


Haikyuu!! IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

by fantasyseal



Category: Dragon Quest IX, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe- Fantasy, Angst, Crossover, F/F, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, it's just later in the story and i don't want to tag it before it shows up, minor description of injuries, there is f/f in here i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 20:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10543722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasyseal/pseuds/fantasyseal
Summary: One ragtag team of friends/allies/mostly-strangers, led by a boy with a tendency to throw himself into danger headfirst for no apparent reason, vs. the world.Haikyuu!! meets Dragon Quest IX.No knowledge of the game required! This follows the game's plot fairly closely, though I've added a bunch in between plot points.





	1. Act I: Angel Falls

The earthquake is bad enough, just by itself.

Kageyama clings to the hope that it’ll be over soon as the ground shakes, as his things fall from the shelves around him and it feels like his house might collapse. He hears his father shouting _Tobio, are you okay_ and forces a _yes_ through his panic.

And then it stops, and the instant Kageyama has solid ground under his feet he races outside to see the damage. No buildings are downed, and no one injured, as far as he can tell, and what is _that._

A shining star is falling, fast, out of the sky, and Kageyama’s about to make a wish ( _please let everyone in town be okay_ ) when he hears a high-pitched desperate scream and flinches, because that’s not a star, it’s a _person,_ a _person_ is _falling out of the goddamn sky._

He’s moving before he quite knows what he’s doing, running toward the waterfall that gives Angel Falls its name, but not fast enough. The splash echoes through the otherwise-quiet night, the scream cuts off, and Kageyama’s stomach twists. _Please don’t be dead._

He reaches the waterfall and spots him instantly. Orange-and-pink clothing that floats around the boy more than on him, a mess of orange hair, and blood spreading through the water.

Kind of a _lot_ of blood.

Holy shit this kid’s going to die in front of him.

_Stop panicking,_ Kageyama orders himself, and splashes through the river to drag the boy ashore. He lets out a tiny pained noise as soon as Kageyama tries to move him, which Kageyama ignores in favor of getting him out of the water. He’s pretty light, thankfully, and either he knows Kageyama’s trying to help or he’s past caring (probably the second one).

“Kageyama?” Sugawara’s standing on the shore. “Did someone fall in?” He wades in to help, rolling up his shorts.

“I’m not sure,” Kageyama says, “but Suga-san, he’s bleeding. I think he’s hurt…” That’s all he needs to say to snap Sugawara to attention. The older boy nods and bends to help lift the boy and give Kageyama a secure grip on him.

“My house,” Suga says, tilting his head to indicate the right direction, in case Kageyama’s forgotten where he lives. “I’ve got an extra bedroom, and it’s faster.” Kageyama nods in agreement, and moving as slowly as they can manage, they reach Suga’s house. The stairs are tricky, and the boy’s breath seems to hiccup every time they so much as bump him, but _at last_ Suga has him on a bed, on his stomach. His shirt is mostly burned away, and his undershirt, just a little charred-black bit of cloth.

Suga lights a lamp to get a decent look at his injuries. “Holy _shit.”_

“What is it?” Kageyama leans in to see and immediately regrets it.

The boy’s back is a mess.

He’s practically covered in dried blood, even after his fall into the river, and Kageyama sees shiny pink skin on his shoulders. It’s a miracle he’s even alive.

“Kageyama,” Suga says. “Cloths, cold water, and bandages, please.” Kageyama’s only too happy to do something that gets him away from the boy, and comes back as fast as he can.

“If you can understand me,” Suga says, bending down to the boy’s ear, “I’m going to clean your wounds out and bandage them. Nod if you can hear me.”

No motion at all.

“He’s awake, isn’t he?” Kageyama asks. All the whining while they moved him couldn’t happen if he was asleep.

“He might not speak our language,” Suga points out. “Or he’s just in too much pain to talk…I don’t really want to do this with him awake, but we can’t fix this otherwise. Soak a cloth for me, please?”

Kageyama does, wringing it out into the bucket before he hands it to Suga. Suga touches it to the boy’s back, wincing at the immediate whimper.

“Sorry,” Suga whispers, combing his fingers through the injured boy’s hair. “Let me help, all right? I know it stings, but it has to be done.” He starts cleaning, ignoring the continued whines muffled by the pillow.

Kageyama passes him another cloth. “There’s nothing else we can do,” he says quietly, noticing Suga’s lip caught in his teeth.

“I know.” Suga frowns. “I have no idea what could have caused these injuries. They’re almost perfectly round, and they’re raised besides. And most of his upper back is burned. Nothing anywhere near Angel Falls could do that.”

“That’s not important right now.” Kageyama watches Suga wrap the boy’s back in what seems like a mile of white cloth. “Will he be okay?”

“I’m not sure.” Suga ties off the last bit of cloth. “He lost a lot of blood, but the injuries themselves don’t seem life-threatening. We’ll have to watch him and try to keep him calm when he wakes up. I can’t give him anything to make it hurt less unless he can swallow, and whatever injured him so badly will probably cause him to panic when he’s fully conscious. Right now he’s sort of drifting.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Kageyama offers. “You should get some rest.” He can’t explain it properly, but he _needs_ to know for sure that the little orange-haired boy is going to be all right. Suga doesn’t argue, just smiles and dips his head.

“I’ll bring a cot up for you.”

 

It takes hours for him to wake up properly.

Kageyama’s first and only warning is the tiny whine from the bed, and then even through the pillow, the boy’s screeching hits a painful volume. It gets to the point where Suga has to hold him down by his burned shoulders to make sure he can’t hurt himself (the absolute _last_ thing he needs is to hurt himself again). He shrieks and kicks until Kageyama pins his legs, and then subsides into quiet little cries.

When he finally stops fighting, Kageyama risks letting go of his legs. “Hey, can you understand us?”

He gets a quiet _mmhmm._ “Okay. Listen, your back is really messed up. We were holding you down to try and keep you from making it worse. We’re going to let go, but you need to stay really still, okay?” Another _mmhmm._ Suga carefully releases the boy’s shoulders from his grip, and when he doesn’t instantly start kicking, lets out a relieved sigh. “You can turn your head to the side, but try not to move anything else.”

The boy’s head twists around, and his eyes open.

Kageyama knows _that_ look.

He’s seen it a thousand times, the dull-eyed hopeless look of travelers who come to Angel Falls because the miracle healing water is their last chance. Suga always gives them a room, always smiles, always pays extra attention to them and prays to the Guardian on their behalf.

“What’s your name?” Suga asks. The boy flinches like he’s been slapped. “I’m Sugawara Koushi. This is Kageyama Tobio.”

“Um.” The boy’s forehead scrunches. “…Shouyou. ‘M Shouyou.”

“Do you have a last name?” Suga asks, elbowing Kageyama when he opens his mouth.

Shouyou’s eyes flick to the sun filtering in through the windows. “Um. Right, yeah…Hinata. I’m Hinata Shouyou.”

“Hinata-kun.” Suga gives the boy his best Innkeeper Smile. “You’re injured. Kageyama and I found you in the river and brought you here. You’re in my house. Are you in pain?”

“Dunno.” Hinata blinks. “My back’s kinda…don’t have the words.”

“Good feeling?” Suga asks.

“Nuh uh.” Hinata shakes his head, into the pillow and up again. “Bad. Really bad. Hard to talk.”

“I can make something that should help with that.” Suga bends down to be on eye level with Hinata. “It’ll put you to sleep for a while, but you won’t be hurting.”

“Sleep is that thing where you don’t think, right,” Hinata mumbles. “That sounds really nice.”

Suga frowns and ruffles Hinata’s hair. “I’ll be back. Kageyama, watch him for me?”

Kageyama nods and waits. He can hear Suga rattling around in his kitchen, asking his grandfather for help. Hinata listens too, staring at nothing.

“Hey, uh…Hinata?”

“’M here.”

“You know you’ve got the same name as our village Guardian?” He means to follow it with some stupid Suga-esque thing about how that has to be good luck, having the same name as their guardian angel (the guardian angel Kageyama doesn’t really believe in, but whatever), but Hinata flinches the second he finishes the sentence and bites his lip.

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah. I’ve, um, I’ve heard that before. Heard of Angel Falls before. Not sure where. Don’t remember much.”

“You’re really hurt,” Kageyama says. “Do you remember how you got those burns?”

Hinata hesitates for a second before he responds. “No, I don’t…really remember anything. Mostly just my name.”

_Uh huh._

Suga picks that moment to come back in with a cup full of slightly-cloudy liquid. “Hinata-kun, I need you to drink as much of this as you can. I’m sorry about the taste.”

Hinata hisses as soon as he reaches to take the cup, so Suga puts a straw in it and holds it for him. His first swallow is hesitant, but Kageyama’s had this particular Suga-medicine before and that hesitation is _completely_ warranted. It tastes so bitter that the first time he’d had it, he’d spat it out and into Suga’s face.

But Hinata drinks the entire cup down with a look of utter disgust on his face. Kageyama counts off fifteen minutes in his head, and Hinata’s eyes start fluttering.

“One of us will be here when you wake up.” Suga rests his hand on Hinata’s head. “Good night, Hinata-kun.”

“…night.” Hinata’s eyes close, and his breathing deepens.

“Go home,” Suga says immediately, pushing Kageyama out the door. “You need a shower, a sleep in your own bed, and a decent meal. Maybe not in that order. I promise I’ll come get you if he wakes up while you’re gone, but he might not be lucid enough to speak for a few days.”

“Just promise me you’ll come get me when you need to sleep.”

“Of course.” Suga gives him a shove. “Now go.”

Kageyama goes, but the image of the tiny orange boy swathed in bandages won’t leave his mind, so he stops to pray at the Guardian statue for the first time in years.

_Shouyou._ He doesn’t care what Ennoshita and Suga say, it used to be Shou-something else. Shouto? Something like that. The statue is of an old man with wings that stick straight out behind him, with a long robe, made entirely of gray stone that never seems to weather away.

Kageyama kneels, feeling like an idiot. “Um, Shouyou. This is stupid, I don’t know if you’re even real, or if you can hear me. But in case you do, there’s this boy…he fell into the river, and he’s hurt. Like, really hurt. Can you help him heal? Please,” he adds, in case it helps.

The statue just stands there, as beautiful, imposing, and _totally useless_ as always.

 

Hinata wakes up a few times over the next two days, but they can’t get him to talk much. He doesn’t remember how he was injured, doesn’t know where he’s from, doesn’t know why he came to Angel Falls, and it’s always only a few minutes of semi-lucidity before he drifts off again.

“He’s healing faster than he has any right to,” Suga says quietly, changing Hinata’s bandages on the second day. “Those wounds are already scarring over, and the burned areas are growing back in. I’m not even sure he’s still hurting.”

“Shouldn’t he be out for like, weeks?” Kageyama asks.

“Our Guardian must be watching over him.” Suga tucks the last bit of cloth in. “His clothes are enchanted to restore themselves, too…I think we can probably take these off, but just to be safe, I’m leaving them until he wakes up again. I didn’t give him that tea, so he’ll probably be fully aware in a few hours. Hopefully we can get him to eat something.”

“You know he’s probably faking the amnesia thing?”

“You’ve had that stuff,” Suga says, shrugging. “You know how foggy it makes you. I doubt he has the energy to pretend much, and if he wants to keep whatever hurt him a secret, it’s his own business.”

“Not if it was something in Angel Falls.”

“Nothing in Angel Falls could do that.” Suga shakes his head. “I don’t know how he got here with his back like that, but his wounds can’t be from the waterfall rocks, they’re too neat. And nothing else dangerous is here.”

“Too neat?”

Suga snorts. “Remember when we were kids, and you dove off the waterfall just to prove you could?”

Yes. “No.”

“The rocks tore your back up,” Suga says, giving him a _yes you do don’t give me that_ look. “They’re jagged. His wounds just look like…well, they look like a cut, actually. And I don’t think the waterfall could burn him like that. He was already injured when he got here.”

Kageyama gives an irritated grumble, and Suga laughs. “I know it annoys you not knowing, but please try not to bother him too much. And go home. You’ll miss dinner.”

“Don’t forget to eat,” Kageyama says. Suga just flaps a hand at him in a shooing motion, so he leaves.

 

On the morning of the third day, Hinata’s outside by the time Kageyama gets there, standing next to the Guardian statue, in his weird apparently-magic clothes (they’d stitched themselves back together somehow, despite half the fabric burning away). Kageyama goes to talk to Suga, who’s watching carefully from the window with his grandfather.

“He seems healed,” Suga says as soon as he sees Kageyama, “and it’s the first thing he’s actually wanted to do since he woke up.”

“He’s been lying around for days and all he wants to do is pray to a statue?” Kageyama raises one eyebrow. “He has messed-up priorities.”

Suga gives him a Look (okay, he deserved that one). “If he wants to pray to the village Guardian for assistance with… _whatever_ his issue is at this point, he’s welcome to. I was sure I saw you at the statue the other day…”

“Shut up,” Kageyama mutters, feeling his ears burn. Suga laughs.

“So don’t criticize him,” he says. “I’m going to the inn. Try not to kill him, okay?”

“Suga-san,” Kageyama says, suddenly remembering something important, “have you had any guests since the earthquake?”

Suga stops with his hand on the doorknob and gives him a smile. “Not yet. I’m certain that the earthquake just made everyone a little more cautious of traveling, though. Don’t worry about me.”

Kageyama’s worried about him.

He knows Suga doesn’t have much in the way of savings. He tries to keep his inn as cheap as he can, and it works. Between the stories of the healing waterfall that gives Angel Falls its name and the stories of the friendly town, he can usually gather enough people to keep himself fed through the winters when the river’s half-frozen and no sane person travels.

But it’s high summer. He shouldn’t be going half a week with no visitors at all.

Kageyama remembers how fiercely the quake had shaken Angel Falls, destroying the little archway that they can’t afford to fix. _What if the pass is blocked?_

No one comes through their damaged gates that night, either, so Kageyama invites Suga and his grandfather over for dinner and stuffs as much bread as he can find into the older boy’s bag when he isn’t looking.

“We can spare it,” he says when Suga notices and tries to give it back. “Don’t be stupid.”

 

The next morning, he goes to Hinata. “Help me.”

“Huh?” Hinata tilts his head.

“You’ve got a sword,” Kageyama says, “and claim amnesia all you want, I don’t care, but you know how to use it. Don’t you.”

Hinata’s hand wraps around the hilt to his little copper sword. “Yeah, I do.”

“Great,” Kageyama says. “Then you’re coming with me.”

“To do what?” Hinata asks, tilting his head again until it’s nearly resting on his shoulder.

“I’m going to look at the pass,” Kageyama says, and then, “Uh, it’s this road through the mountains. I think the earthquake blocked it, and Suga-san needs it to be open. I want to check on it and clear it if we can.”

Hinata snorts. “Why don’t you ask the village Guardian?” There’s a definite note of amusement in his voice, and Kageyama would be pissed about it if Hinata’s gaze didn’t instantly drop to the floor, and if he wasn’t biting his lip like he’s trying not to cry.

_“Look,”_ Kageyama says, “Suga-san runs the town inn. If the pass is blocked, he can’t…”

“He can’t get more guests,” Hinata finishes, slipping his feet into his ankle-boots (the most normal part of his entire ensemble. If the weird dangly top wasn’t bad enough, he wears bright yellow leggings underneath it and, for some reason, no socks). “I know.” He finishes pulling on his boots (they look brand-new, Kageyama notes, not at all like the thin-soled ancient battered things he sees on most of the wandering minstrels who pass through Angel Falls) and buckles his sword across his back. “So, sure, I’ll come protect you.” He tries to make it sound light, but it falls flat again, and he looks down and tugs at his boot.

“I can protect myself,” Kageyama snaps. “I thought you’d want to get out of the house after being stuck here for the last three days. You keep staring at the sky out the window like you’re in love with it.” Hinata’s ears turn red at that, and Kageyama rolls his eyes. “Thought so. Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Kageyama nearly jumps out of his skin at Sugawara’s voice. He’s leaning against the doorframe, tapping one foot.

“Um, I just thought I’d show Hinata around Angel Falls a little,” Kageyama says, trying to keep his voice steady in the face of Sugawara (more difficult than it should be).

“And he needs his sword for that?” Suga asks.

“I, um, don’t feel safe without it,” Hinata says, actually managing to meet Suga’s eyes. “I mean, I got hurt once already, right?”

Suga sighs. “Look out for each other,” he says. “And don’t go too far, and if either of you gets hurt I want you back here _immediately._ ”

“We promise,” Hinata says, and Suga stands aside and lets them go. They take off at a dead run, slipping through the damaged town gate and following the road.

They don’t get too far before they run into a slime, which Kageyama attacks. Hinata’s ridiculously fast, and lands a hit on it before it can so much as think about attacking either of them.

“You’re _fast,_ ” Kageyama says when they start moving again.

“Am I?” Hinata blinks at him. “Maybe you’re just slow.”

Kageyama scowls at him. “On the _other_ hand, at least I’m not lying to Suga-san. You’ll have to explain yourself to him one day, you know. He’s not an idiot, he knows you don’t really have amnesia…” He stops, because of all the potential reactions to his speech, he didn’t really anticipate laughter. “What?”

“Not in a bajillion years,” Hinata says, shaking his head. “You guys have been really nice to me, and everything, it’s just, um, I can’t. Oh, look, mountains!” He points excitedly at them, and the gap dug out between them for the road. “That’s the pass, right?”

“You’re not like, a criminal on the run, are you?” Kageyama asks, and Hinata snorts.

“No. I promise I’ve never broken any laws. No one’s going to come break down Suga-san’s door because of me…” He trails off and comes to a screeching halt, so fast that Kageyama nearly bumps into him.

“What?”

“The Starflight,” Hinata whispers. He walks up to a completely empty patch of dirt and puts his hand against something. “ _No…”_

“Hinata,” Kageyama snaps, hoping to get him back to normal, “nothing’s there.”

“It’s here,” Hinata mumbles, pressing his hand against…nothing Kageyama can see. “The Starflight’s _here._ ”

“Hinata!” Hinata jumps and looks back at him, and smiles.

“Sorry,” he says. “Let’s keep going.” He steps back from the empty forest patch; looking closer, Kageyama frowns at the downed trees and parallel dents in the dirt. _What caused that?_ Maybe he’s hallucinating.

Maybe taking an almost-total-stranger who was dying three days ago with him to an isolated area wasn’t the best idea he’s ever had.

“Kageyama, let’s go!” Hinata’s bouncing on his heels, and Kageyama rolls his eyes and goes with him. He’s being stupid, he can take one kid thirty centimeters smaller than him in a fight.

“Not far to the pass from here,” he says. “Just around this corner…oh. Shit.”

“Don’t be vulgar,” Hinata says, sticking his tongue out.

“Vulgar? How _old_ are you?” Kageyama doesn’t wait to hear the answer, instead opting to go look at the pass to see what can be done.

The pass is definitely blocked, but instead of the little pebbles and dirt Kageyama was imagining, it’s _boulders._ Some of them are bigger than Kageyama is.

“I don’t think we can move those,” Hinata says, coming up behind him. “They’re huge.”

Hinata’s right, he knows, but. “Damn it,” Kageyama hisses out, staring at the immovable pile of rocks. “We can’t clear this, and if we can’t clear it, no one can get to Suga-san’s inn. _Damn it!”_ He kicks the pile, and instantly lets out a yell. Rocks actually aren’t very comfortable to kick, and it doesn’t so much as budge. “OW!”

“Feel better?” Hinata asks, snorting.

“Hey!” The two of them snap to attention at the new voice. “Hey, over there! Are you from Angel Falls?”

“Yes,” Kageyama yells back. “I’m Kageyama Tobio. We came to check the pass.”

“Well, don’t go worrying about it!” the voice calls. “We’re from Stornway, and our royal family sent us to clear it. Can’t go losing touch with our closest neighbors, after all!”

“Please send him our thanks,” Kageyama calls. “Hinata, we’d better start back. Nothing else we can do here.”

“Ah, before you go,” the other voice says, sounding hesitant (insofar as that’s possible when yelling over a large pile of rocks), “did a man called Sawamura come to your town recently?”

Kageyama frowns. “No, I’m sorry.”

He hears a muffled swear before “Thank you. If you could kindly keep an eye out for him? He was going to visit the man who runs your inn. I think he was taking the Hexagon, not the pass.”

“Of course,” Kageyama says, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice carry. “We’ll head back with your news.”

“Thank you,” the voice yells back. “Should be a couple of days, but we’re working as fast as we can.”

Kageyama turns around. “Let’s go, Hinata. Suga-san should be relieved to hear they’re digging out the pass.”

Hinata grins. “Race you.”

“Wha…”

“OnetwothreeGO!” Hinata dashes off, leaving Kageyama to catch up. He can’t manage it, with Hinata’s head start, and winds up blasting back into Angel Falls a second behind Hinata.

“Crap, it’s evening already,” Kageyama mutters. They’ve been gone longer than he thought. Suga’s going to be pissed…

And there his dad is, just because his day can’t get worse. “Tobio! What are you doing, gone so long? And taking the town’s new half-recovered minstrel with you like he could help with anything?”

Kageyama briefly considers hiding behind Hinata before remembering that he has thirty centimeters of height on him. “Sorry, but…”

“No buts,” his father snaps. “You’re grounded. I don’t believe you would do something so reckless…”

“Hey!” Hinata barks. “Leave him alone.”

“Don’t talk back to your elders,” Kageyama’s father says, sparing him a glance, and Hinata’s back stiffens.

“I’m…” He’s puffed up and indignant, and Kageyama looks sideways at him, because surely he _is_ younger than Kageyama’s father. He gets a full-force glare, though, and elects to hide behind Kageyama instead of finishing his sentence.

“Run home to Sugawara,” Kageyama’s father says, waving his hand dismissively, “young minstrel. This doesn’t concern you.”

_“Minstrel?”_ He sounds offended.

“Whatever you are. You’re a child, and I don’t need you telling me how to raise my son.”

“Go on,” Kageyama says before Hinata can escalate things. “Go to Sugawara, I’m sure he’s worried. Tell him I’m sorry.” He can handle his father (well, he’s going to be grounded forever, but he can deal with that), but Hinata’s making it worse.

Hinata frowns, and then, quietly, “Okay.” He gives a last wave to Kageyama before he leaves.

 

Shouyou runs to the house and barely stops to knock before opening the door. He finds Suga pacing in the kitchen. “Suga-san?”

“Hinata,” Suga says, instantly relaxing. “Where’s Kageyama?”

“With his dad,” Shouyou mutters, not missing the _oh, great_ look that flits across Suga’s features before it’s replaced by concern.

“Are you both okay?” he asks. “I made dinner, if you want it. Where did you go?”

“Oh!” Shouyou lights up. “We went to the pass! Kageyama thought we could check on it and see if it was blocked, and it is…”

“He took you all the way to the _pass?”_ Suga nearly drops the food he’s holding. “When you barely know your own name? That’s a long walk, and it’s full of monsters…”

“We were fine!” Shouyou says quickly. “And we talked to someone from Stornway, and they said they’d been sent to clear it, so you don’t have to worry anymore! It’ll be all clear soon! And also, they wanted to know if we’d seen anyone named Sawamura.”

“Sawamura?” Suga asks, putting down his food on the table and flipping through the biggest book Shouyou’s ever seen. “It’s a register,” he explains when he sees Shouyou look at it. “I have my guests sign their names in it…but no, no Sawamura. Is he missing?”

Shouyou nods. “He’s supposed to be on his way to Angel Falls. They said he took the old way through, instead of the pass.”

“You’re sure?” When Shouyou nods, Suga sighs. “I’m sorry to say it, but if he went the old way, there’s a better than even chance he didn’t make it. The Hexagon is a death trap. That’s why the new pass is so important. It’s infested with monsters, the structure is a bit unstable, and the door through was locked.”

“Oh.” Shouyou frowns. “But we should still _check,_ right? What if he got through and he’s stuck?”

“It’s a huge risk,” Suga says. “And I’m looking after you right now. I already shouldn’t have let you go earlier. You might heal quickly, but you aren’t indestructible, Hinata.”

Shouyou gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look, because _he is so_ (er, well, he _was,_ he’s not actually sure if he still is), but nods. “Okay, Suga-san.”

Suga ruffles his hair. “I’ll go talk to the guards tomorrow,” he says. “They can try to recover Sawamura from the Stornway entrance. If he’s just stuck behind the seal, a team of adults can mount a more effective rescue mission than we can.”

He waits until Suga’s asleep to sneak out, with a whispered apology and his sword’s scabbard buckled properly onto his back. The weight is reassuring, almost as good as having Shouri with him. It had been a present from Shouri the first time he was allowed out ‘by himself’ (Shouri _and_ Ikkei had been watching, ready to jump in), and it had only taken three chips off the soft copper before Shouyou learned the difference between a large rock and an actual monster (the older apprentices told him stories of giant rocks carved into head shapes that _stomped on you_ ). Shouyou draws it as soon as he’s out of Angel Falls and frowns. When did it get so _small?_ It used to feel nearly impossible to lift. He hadn’t even noticed it getting lighter and easier, but now it seems about as useful as a stick.

_It's a good sword,_ Shouyou thinks, squeezing the hilt. _It’ll get me through the Hexagon._ Where is the Hexagon, anyway? He heads for the pass, not knowing what else to do.

It takes him some searching, but finally he finds a little overgrown path that leads away from the pass, and he follows it. It’s not a long walk to the Hexagon, but once he’s there, his hand trembles so badly he has to sheathe his sword. The old stone building is _scary._ It looms like it might simply swallow Hinata. The pools of purple something that Shouyou doesn’t dare touch don’t help the image.

_This is your job,_ Shouyou reminds himself firmly. _You help people._ He brushes his worn-down sword hilt for reassurance and steps into the _terrifying dark why_ entrance.

Inside it’s a depressingly dark stone hallway, with hexagonal platforms every few meters. Shouyou walks forward, chewing on his lip and patiently exploring the side hallways (and running into a statue that seems to exist for no reason besides getting in Shouyou’s way). He doesn’t get too far before running into a huge stone blocking the way forward.

“Path ahead sealed due to enormous-beast-related fatalities,” he reads. “Oh.” _How_ enormous, exactly, is _enormous?_ He runs at the side of the seal anyway, achieving nothing other than a bruised shoulder. “Ow!”

He stops when he feels another presence in the room, and turns slowly around to see the ghost of an old man. The ghost doesn’t speak, simply turning and going down another hallway. Shouyou chases after him. Maybe this is Sawamura! And if he is, it’s Shouyou’s job to help him move on.

(It’s the least he can do, considering.)

The ghost is waiting in the hallway with the statue. Shouyou runs up and waves, intending to start a conversation. He still hasn’t gotten a decent look at the guy’s face.

“On the…back of…this statue,” the ghost says, and fades away.

“Wait, come back, I can…help you?” He’s gone.

Well. He doesn’t really look helpful right now, so he supposes he can’t blame the ghost. He has to stand on his tiptoes to search the back of the statue, to his annoyance, but eventually he finds a tiny button that he can just manage to press if he stretches as far up as he can.

The rumble that follows almost knocks him off his feet. His balance is really messed up lately, but it would help if the ground would _stay still._ It’s sheer luck that he falls against the statue and manages to cling on until it stops. “Ow…okay, that was scary, but I can handle this!” He trots down the side hallway, back to the main path.

“It’s moved,” he says, looking at the track the seal left. “Um, thank you, sir. Your name isn’t Sawamura, is it? Because I’m looking for a Sawamura…you’re gone, I guess.” He steps through the now-clear door, resolving to keep his eyes peeled for any more ghosts.

“Hey, dumbass, what are _you_ doing here?” Shouyou grabs his sword and spins around, dropping into his ready position.

“Oh. Kageyama.” He lowers his sword slightly, but since Kageyama has his out, he doesn’t sheathe it. “Why are you here?”

“Same reason as you, I’m assuming,” Kageyama says. “Rescuing Sawamura-san and hopefully not getting murdered by my father and Suga-san.”

Shouyou’s ears burn. “I wouldn’t put it exactly that way…”

“You unsealed it,” Kageyama says, lowering his sword. “Do you seriously not have _any_ sense of self-preservation?”

“I’m…” Shouyou cuts himself off, because there’s no way to finish that sentence that won’t make him look utterly insane to his new friend. “You’re here too!” he snaps instead, and succeeds in making Kageyama’s ears go as pink as Shouyou’s own.

“So let’s go,” Kageyama says, eyeing Shouyou. “You’re going into battle with that crappy sword and no armor? Do you know how many monsters are here?”

“I’ll be fine,” Shouyou says, adjusting his grip on the sword. “Come on, if you’re not scared.” (He’s noticed that the best way to make Kageyama do something is to challenge him.) He picks a staircase at random and hears Kageyama’s footsteps behind him, and grins.

“Sawamura-san?” Shouyou calls, swiping sideways at a monster trying to sneak up on them before Kageyama’s even noticed it’s there. “Sawamura-san?”

“Shut up, you’re attracting attention,” Kageyama says.

Shouyou gives him a perfect deadpan look and points to his mess of orange hair that no fewer than four bats have attempted to steal for nesting material in as many minutes, and Kageyama turns red again and shuts up.

They go down further into the Hexagon. Shouyou’s hand shakes so much his sword’s vibrating back and forth, but when Kageyama mentions it, Shouyou just gives him a _shut up_ glare. Kageyama looks thoroughly lost by the time they descend their last staircase and find a pile of rocks surrounding a brown-haired guy.

“You guys have to leave,” he says, eyes flicking over them. “I’m fine, just pinned, but the Hexagoon’s coming back…”

“The what?” Shouyou barely gets the question out before the ceiling shakes and the man flinches.

“Get out of here," he orders, tilting his head to the exit. "I'm not going to watch two kids get hurt because of me."

“No way, sir,” Hinata says, gripping his sword so tightly his knuckles turn white.

That’s all they get before a huge pink-and-green beast bursts into the room. Kageyama and Shouyou raise their swords together and rush it.

“Over here!” Shouyou calls, waving his sword to catch the light. The beast turns and stares at Shouyou, and Kageyama uses the opportunity to land a hit. The beast howls, and Shouyou slashes, hearing Shouri in his head. _If you can’t be stronger than your opponent, be faster. If you can’t be faster, be smarter…actually, Shouyou, just stick to being faster._

He’d sulked about it at the time, but now it’s almost fun, leaping around the beast and distracting it with his sword and bright orange hair. He lands hits faster than the giant beast can react, and Kageyama sneaks attacks in when it’s distracted, and after what feels like either an eternity or two minutes, the beast falls on its side and dissolves into smoke.

Shouyou and Kageyama immediately run to the man. The rocks have shifted during the fight, and the man straightens up and brushes himself off. “Thank you.”

“Um, you’re Sawamura-san, right?” Shouyou asks, sheathing his sword. “We were told you went through this way, instead of the pass.”

Sawamura laughs. “Daichi, please. It’s faster,” he explains, “and I thought I could handle it. I didn’t count on an earthquake trapping me in…”

“I’m Hinata Shouyou,” Shouyou says, tripping over his last name (he still isn’t used to having two), “and this is Kageyama! We’re from Angel Falls!”

“Pleased to meet you,” Daichi says, smiling down at Shouyou. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone with the name Sugawara?”

“Sure,” Shouyou says. He likes this person. He seems friendly, like Suga. “You’re looking for him, right? We’ll escort you there!”

“We’ll…” Kageyama trails off in a sigh and unsheathes his sword again. “Let’s go.” Daichi looks slightly dubious, but he follows Shouyou’s enthusiastic charge through the Hexagon, Kageyama bringing up the rear to call a warning when Shouyou stumbles into a monster because _you’re not looking where you’re going, dumbass_ (what does stupid Kageyama know, anyway).

They make it, with only _some_ of Shouyou’s hair pulled out for monster nests, and once they’re out of the Hexagon, it’s not far to Angel Falls. Shouyou speeds up. He can’t _wait_ to see Suga-san’s face when he finds out they brought him Daichi. (Also, he’s a little afraid Suga-san might wake up and find him gone.)

“Sun’s up, hurry,” Kageyama yells.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Shouyou yells back. “Look, the town gate’s right there…uh-oh.”

Sugawara is waiting for them outside the town gates.

This is ridiculous.

He’s way older than Sugawara. And more powerful. Suga’s just an _innkeeper._

…Suga is still scary. Shouyou drops back to hide behind Kageyama, hearing the other apprentices’ voices make fun of him for it and not particularly caring, because Suga looks like he’s seriously considering killing them both.

“Go home,” Suga says, as soon as they’re in earshot. “Both of you. Now.”

Shouyou bites back the _what home,_ because he knows what Suga means, and pokes his head out from behind Kageyama. “We brought Sawamura back…”

“Well done,” Suga says, clipping the words out and making Shouyou feel very much like a naughty child. “I’ll look after him from here, so you two don’t have to worry, all right?”

“Er,” Daichi says, shifting his weight. “Sugawara-san?”

Suga’s face shifts into his more usual Innkeeper Smile. “You’re Sawamura-san? I’m glad to see you arrived safely. May I help you with something?” He sends a glare at Kageyama and Shouyou, who take the hint and scoot, Kageyama toward his house and Hinata toward the Guardian statue.

“Go home,” Shouyou mutters, leaning on the statue and punching the little nameplate. “Like I wouldn't if I could.”

“And that’s _yet another_ weird thing you’re going to have to explain someday,” Kageyama says, and Shouyou jumps. “And you probably shouldn’t punch the Guardian statue.”

“Why,” Shouyou asks, unable to stop a little smirk. “Do you think I’ll make the Guardian mad?”

“I don’t care about _that,”_ Kageyama says, shooting the statue a disdainful look. “You’ll break your hand if you punch it, dumbass.”

(Shouyou wonders if he could get away with slapping Kageyama again.)

Shouyou sighs. “I’m gonna go apologize to Suga-san.” He doesn’t wait for Kageyama, launching himself off the statue and running over to the inn. He hasn’t seen Suga come by the statue, so he’s probably there.

He opens the door and freezes. Suga looks deep in a conversation with Daichi, and Shouyou decides the best course of action is just to hold perfectly still.

“It’s a beautiful inn,” Daichi says, smiling as he takes in Suga’s carefully swept and washed floor, the door Shouyou knows he repaints every spring, and the desk that’s just a piece of wood Suga gave himself uncountable blisters and splinters learning how to polish into something halfway acceptable. “Your father would be proud.”

“Thank you,” Suga responds, inclining his head to acknowledge the compliment. “He built all this. I just look after it.”

“I’m sorry to hear he passed on,” _oh yeah,_ Shouyou remembers that. Shouri had used it as an example of why he should _never ever ever_ get attached to mortals. They die so fast. He and Shouri had kept an eye on Suga for a while, but he’d still had his grandfather, and besides, the town had kind of adopted him.

Suga dips his head again. “It was years ago. I’m surprised you remember him.”

“My father told me stories,” Daichi says. “The Inncredible Innkeeper’s a legend.”

“The _what?”_ Sugawara snorts. _“Dad?_ I’m sorry, but I think you might have the wrong Sugawara.”

Daichi smiles. “I’m sure there’s only one Sugawara-san who came to Angel Falls with his son,” he says, glancing around again. “But if he’s gone…you wouldn’t by any chance be interested in running an inn in Stornway, would you?”

Suga’s mouth drops open. _“Excuse_ me?”

“I could have phrased that better,” Daichi mutters, and then “Let me explain.”

“Why don’t we do this in the inn’s room,” Suga suggests. “It’s more comfortable. You too, Hinata. If you’re going to eavesdrop I’d rather you do it with permission.”

Shouyou turns bright red and follows Sugawara and Daichi, letting them settle before they start talking again.

“Your father was legendary in Stornway,” Daichi starts. “Everyone called him the Inncredible Inntertainer, and with good reason. He started his own inn and put his rivals out of business, and fast. It didn’t take long for him to have a monopoly.”

“He was nothing like that,” Suga says, shaking his head. “He always seemed so happy with our little inn here.”

“No one’s ever been sure why he left Stornway for…er…this,” Daichi says, and at Suga’s glare, “But, anyway, I came to find him because his old inn, Karasuno, is in trouble. I was hoping I could convince him to come pull us out of our rough patch. I didn’t realize he passed away, and I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s been two years,” Suga says, smiling. “I’m sorry that you came all this way for nothing, though.”

“Well.” Daichi looks up at Suga. “Not quite nothing. I found you, didn’t I?”

“I’m sorry,” Suga says, still with the gentle smile on his face. “I really don’t think I can go with you. I have my hands full with the inn here. And…I appreciate your story, but I think you have us mixed up with some other Sugawara family. Dad wasn’t any legend. Neither am I.”

“That’s complete nonsense.” Daichi frowns. “I can tell that you love this inn. You’re just like him.”

“I really need to get started on dinner.” Suga gets up and bows to Daichi. “Please excuse me.”

Daichi watches him go and turns to Shouyou. “You know him, right?”

“I fell off the waterfall in the earthquake,” Shouyou says (technically true. Ish. He fell _into_ the waterfall, anyway). “He’s been looking after me.”

“You, uh,” Daichi says. “You wouldn’t be willing to help me convince him to come back with me, would you? He really is our best chance now. And I think it’d be good for him.”

“It’s hard to change his mind,” Shouyou says. “Don’t expect a lot.” He runs after Suga anyway, and stops in front of the house.

_That’s the ghost from earlier…_ He runs up and waves. “Hello!”

“Aaaaaaaaah!” The ghost jumps. “You g-g-gave me a f-fright, there! Don’t d-do that!…wait, you can see me? But I’m dead!”

“Eh heh,” Shouyou says, and ducks his head.

“I thought you saw me back at the Hexagon, too. Quite a strange talent you have there.”

Shouyou hopes he doesn’t ask for an explanation, because he really, really doesn’t have one that makes sense.

“Sorry, I should introduce myself.” The ghost straightens up. “I’m Koushi’s father. Hiroki.”

Shouyou dips his head to acknowledge the name, but doesn’t volunteer his own.

“I fell ill two years ago,” Hiroki says (Shouyou bites back the _yeah I know_ ), “but, well, I haven’t quite managed to leave the mortal realm yet. And you are?”

Great. “Shouyou.” Shouyou bows. “Pleased to meet you.”

He didn’t even know ghosts _could_ make that kind of half-choked surprised noise Kageyama does all the time. “R-really? But…but that’s…aren’t you the village Guardian?”

Shouyou’s opening his mouth to explain that it’s just a coincidence, he’s a traveling minstrel, when someone interrupts him. “Hey, hey! Wait a minute!”

Some kind of weird white dot flies straight into Shouyou and knocks him sideways. His yelp is nearly as loud as the other voice’s.

“Ow!” Shouyou protests. “What was that for?”

The white dot forms into a fairy. His hair is white, streaked black, and spiked up into two points. His wings match his hair, and he wears a white-and-black outfit. “Ouch! Watch where you’re standing, will you? I’m not _that_ small, shrimpy!”

Shouyou puffs up. “You’re smaller than me! And you ran into me!”

“Hmph, don’t worry about it, I forgive you.” The fairy crosses his arms. “You! Old man! What were you just talking about?”

“Er,” Hiroki says, “I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean.”

“You’re thinking this shrimpy minstrel’s a Celestrian, right?” The fairy points at Shouyou. “I wondered that too, but just _look_ at him. Does that look like a Celestrian to you? They usually have, yknow, halos. And wings. Feathery white ones.”

Shouyou’s back twinges, and he bites down on his lip to keep from speaking. _Ow._

“If you say so,” Hiroki says. “I’ve never seen one. Speaking of odd, though, I’ve never seen anyone like you either.”

The fairy grins. “I’m Bokuto Koutarou! The astral train’s awesome ace…assistant captain!”

“I…see,” Hiroki says. He looks utterly confused.

“Your turn,” Bokuto says to Shouyou. “You seem normal enough to me, so why can you see me and the Starflight and this old dude?”

“It’s, um, a really long story,” Shouyou says. “I don’t like talking about it. I just wanna go home.”

“Where’s home?” Hiroki asks.

“The Observatory,” Shouyou says, and when Hiroki looks even _more_ confused, “It’s way, way up in the sky. Past the clouds.”

“Dunno what you are, shrimpy,” Bokuto says, “but you really want to go back, don’t you?”

“Mmhmm.” Shouyou bites his lip. “They’ll be worried. I bet they’re looking for me.”

“Hey.” Bokuto’s hand settles on his shoulder. “I wanna help, but you gotta prove to me that you’re on the good guys’ side, yknow? Last time I flew the Starflight she kind of…crashed.”

“I was there,” Shouyou says. _Like I could ever forget that._

“So, prove to me you’re a good guy,” Bokuto says. “Help the old dude shove off to the afterlife. Benevolessence won’t wanna go near you if your intent isn’t good, so if you’re lying, I’ll know, yeah?”

“Wait, me?” Hiroki asks. “I mean, I’m not really happy the way I am, but…”

“Unfinished business, right?” Bokuto interrupts. “That’s easy enough to fix. You can handle that, can’t you, shrimpy? I’ll tag along with you for a while, even, so I can see you handle it!”

And with that, he disappears. Shouyou looks around in confusion. “Bokuto-san!”

_Here! Told you, tagging along. You don’t need me right now, right?_

“Right,” Shouyou mutters, and then “…Suga-san.” He’d forgotten his _entire reason_ for coming back to the house, and now he pulls the door open and dashes up the stairs.

Suga’s in his room. Shouyou knocks and enters, waving to Suga.

“Sorry, Hinata, I didn’t want you to worry,” Suga says. His Innkeeper Smile is back, but he looks exhausted. “It’s just…all this stuff about Dad being a legendary innkeeper. It’s silly nonsense, but I can’t figure out why else Daichi-san would be here…”

“Maybe there’s more to your dad than you think,” Shouyou says.

(he remembers Hiroki coming to Angel Falls with a bundle of brown-haired toddler in his arms)

(remembers whispering blessings over the little boy)

(remembers watching his hair turn gray)

(remembers hearing him cough and cough and wishing he could help)

Suga’s shoulders sag. “Maybe. I just…can’t. It seems so strange. Sorry, Hinata. Give me a bit to think this over, all right?”

“Sure.” Shouyou backs out of the room and charges down the stairs again. Suga-san’s okay, so now he can start helping Hiroki. He finds the ghost musing to himself outside.

“I don’t have any idea what could be keeping me here,” Hiroki admits when he sees Shouyou. “I wonder…I did bury something behind the inn once, when I was younger. Do you think it could be that?”

Absolutely, yes, he does. He’d almost forgotten that. Shouyou takes off running again, climbs the little hill behind the inn, and looks around.

_Ah ha._ The bush Hiroki planted is right where it belongs, and it’s grown up pretty well, but not well enough to totally hide the shallow half-worn away hole. Shouyou digs with his hands, cupping handfuls of dirt and setting them aside until he uncovers an old trophy.

It means nothing to Shouyou, but judging from the inscription (‘Awarded to Hiroki by King Michimiya for Inncredible achievements in Inntertainment’), it means _everything_ to Suga and Hiroki. He runs back as fast as he can given that he’s carrying a _gigantic_ trophy (seriously, it has to be a meter tall), and only trips on the stairs twice.

“Suga-san?”

“Hinata?” Suga turns around. “…What’s that?”

Shouyou gives Suga the trophy, half because his arms are about to fall off and half because it’s technically Suga’s.

“It’s an award,” Suga says, reading the inscription. “From Stornway’s king to my father.” He frowns. “so Daichi-san wasn’t lying…why did he hide this? Why did he come to Angel Falls?”

“I can answer that.” Shouyou jumps and turns around.

“Granddad?” Suga blinks. “You knew about this too?”

“Hiroki made me promise not to say anything,” Suga’s grandfather says. “I’ve kept his secret, all these years, but I really don’t think it matters anymore.”

“Hold on.” Suga sets down the Inny and sits on one of the wooden stools. “Now go.”

“You remember being sick as a child, don’t you?”

Suga gives him a perfectly blank face and points to his prematurely gray hair. “Absolutely not.”

_“Sugawara Koushi.”_

“All right, sorry, yes,” Suga says, blowing out a long, dramatic exhale. “I remember that.”

“Your mother was the same way.” Suga’s grandfather leans on his walking stick. “She grew more and more sick as she aged. We lost her when she was still very young.”

“But I’m fine,” Suga says. “I barely remember being sick. I don’t even remember what my hair used to look like.”

“Koushi,” Suga’s grandfather says, “that’s because you were raised in this village, with the water from the famed Angel Falls. It has healing properties, you know.”

Suga’s mouth opens and shuts a few times. “Dad gave up an inn in Stornway…gave up all this,” he knocks the award with one finger, “for me?”

“Saving his only child was more important to him than a silly ambition,” Suga’s grandfather says.

Suga’s mouth tightens. “So it’s my fault he moved here, and it’s my fault he had to give up his dream.”

“He knew you’d feel that way.” Suga’s grandfather indicates the Inny. “So he hid this from you. He didn’t want you to blame yourself for something you couldn’t control. But you’re an adult now, and you should know.”

Inhale, exhale, and Suga turns to face Shouyou. “Then I’m going to Stornway. Hinata…if my father really did abandon Karasuno for me, it’s my responsibility to do what I can to help them. I’m not Dad, but I have to _try._ ” He gets up without another word, leaving the Inny on the table and walking down the stairs.

Shouyou follows and stops when he sees Hiroki standing in front of him. Bokuto comes back into view, sparing him the need to talk.

“You there, old dude?”

“I’m here. I heard everything,” Hiroki adds, addressing his words to Shouyou (and ignoring Bokuto’s little sulk). “Koushi’s going to run Karasuno…he really doesn’t need me around. He’s grown up. And I know he’ll do a wonderful job, even if he doesn’t quite know himself yet.” He smiles at Hinata. “I don’t have any regrets, now.” He starts glowing, then, and looks down at his fading body. “I suppose that means it’s time to go. Thank you so much, my honored Guardian.”

“I’m not…” He’s gone, and Shouyou trails off.

“Huh, went right to you,” Bokuto says. “So I guess you are on the Celestrians’ team…hey, why aren’t you holding it?”

“Eh?”

“You can’t see it?” Bokuto frowns. “It’s on your shoulder…oh, well, don’t worry about it. Let’s go to the Starlight and take you home, shrimpy.”

Shouyou spares a glance to the stairs, where Sugawara is, and nods. “Yeah. Home.”

He follows Bokuto back to the Starflight Express, sword drawn. Everything’s going to be okay.


	2. Act I: Stornway (1/3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fantasy Scotland, scary Sugawara, and team bonding!  
> Also, zombies.

A few days later, Kageyama waves Suga off with Hinata.

“Be safe,” Suga says with a smile, drawing them both into a hug. “Hinata, I hope you find what you’re looking for. And if you’re ever in Stornway…”

“I’ll come to Karasuno,” Hinata promises. “Thank you again.”

“And you,” Suga says, pointing to Kageyama as the hug breaks, “you know, someone’s going to need to take care of my inn…”

“Ennoshita-san.”

“Eh?” Suga breaks off mid-sentence.

“I want to travel.” Kageyama meets Suga’s eyes. “You know that. I don’t want to stay in Angel Falls forever, but Ennoshita-san does.”

“You’re ruining my big farewell gift,” Suga says, dramatically sagging his shoulders forward. “It was worth a try.”

“He’ll do a good job,” Kageyama says. “He loves your inn.”

“Nearly as much as I do,” Suga says. His affectionate smile comes back for an instant before he grins. “So he better take good care of it, or I’ll be _back.”_

“Suga-san,” Kageyama scolds.

“I mean it!” Suga protests. “Just because I’m going to take care of Karasuno doesn’t mean I don’t expect status updates.”

“Suga, if you want to get there before dark, we have to go,” Daichi says.

“Let me talk to Ennoshita and then we can leave.” Suga sticks his tongue out at Kageyama. “Since _someone_ knew this was coming and didn’t discuss it with me…”

“I assumed you would offer it to Ennoshita-san.”

Suga huffs and stomps off, fake-angry. Kageyama watches him go and looks sideways at Daichi. “Thank you. For finding him.”

“I hope everyone at Karasuno likes him.” Daichi smiles. “But once they meet him, I doubt they’ll be able to help it.”

Kageyama wonders, idly, how long it’s going to take Suga to notice that.

Suga returns with a wave. “Okay, all set. Kageyama, I need you to tell Ennoshita later that I’m not joking. I think he doesn’t trust me, for some reason.”

“It’s because he once told Ennoshita-san there was gold behind the waterfall,” Kageyama says, for Daichi and Hinata’s benefit. He gets a surprised snort from Daichi. “And once convinced him that he saw a slime made out of some sort of metal around the Hexagon somewhere.”

“I never told him to actually _go into_ the Hexagon!” Suga protests.

“Get going,” Kageyama says. “You need to be at Stornway before dark.”

“I’m sure the Guardian will protect us,” Suga says. “We’ll be all right.”

Next to him, Hinata flinches.

The two of them wave Suga and Daichi off, and Hinata turns to Kageyama. “I’m going too.”

“Why.”

Hinata fidgets with his sword hilt. “I have to go to Stornway.”

“…By yourself?” Kageyama looks at the little minstrel. “It’s not safe to travel alone, and the Guardian might have trouble protecting all of you at once.”

Hinata looks down. “I just…can’t do anything more here. I want to help people, so I’m going.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Hinata blinks. “…Huh?”

“You heard me. Someone has to cover your ass, and I’m not letting you sneak off before you give me a real explanation.”

Hinata’s eyes go huge and shiny. “You wanna come with me?”

Kageyama nods.

He regrets it almost instantly. Hinata gets excited about the smallest things. He cheers every time they take out a monster (the sanguini are the worst, chasing them in circles and waiting out Hinata’s generally-terrible efforts at dodging) and lets out a surprised laugh whenever he encounters something as simple as tall grass.

“It _tickles,”_ he explains when Kageyama stares at him. “Come on, we’re almost to the pass!”

Weaving their way through the pass is a matter of twenty minutes, and when they reach the other side, Hinata’s shoulders relax.

“You know the monsters here are stronger,” Kageyama says. “Don’t relax yet.”

“I know,” Hinata says, “but it’s warmer over here, isn’t it? It feels safer.”

Kageyama scoffs. “If you say so. Hurry up.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hinata rolls his eyes. “I’m ahead of you, yknow.”

Kageyama fixes that by putting his sword away and dashing past him with a challenging shout over his shoulder. He hears Hinata’s footsteps thundering behind him a second later, and smirks.

_I’m going to win._

Hinata blasts past him on the steps into Stornway, and Kageyama only manages one loud curse before both of them collapse in the city’s gateway. _“Damn it!”_

Hinata manages a laugh through his panting breaths. When they can both breathe again, he gets up and bows his head.

“Honored Narita, thank you for protecting us on our journey.” The words come out awkwardly, with a few stumbles, especially over the thank-you.

Kageyama looks sideways at him. “Haven’t you ever thanked a Guardian before?” Even _Kageyama,_ King of the Skeptics, thanks the local Guardian on his rare trips out of Angel Falls.

Hinata laughs. “Lots of times. Just tired. _Wow.”_

He’s caught sight of the gigantic inn to the left of Stornway’s gate. Easily ten times the size of Suga’s cherished building back in Angel Falls, with a painted crow perched on the sign. _Karasuno Inn._

“Suga’s going to run _that?”_ Kageyama stares.

“Can we go in there?” Hinata asks. “I wanna see what it’s like inside.”

Kageyama looks the shorter boy up and down. He’s dressed in his odd outfit, still, and his boots that somehow don’t have any dirt on them despite the long run to Stornway. “Yes, but then we should get you some normal clothes.”

“What’s wrong with mine?” Hinata protests. “I like my clothes!”

“You look like a performer,” Kageyama says. “No one will take you seriously.” He heads for the Karasuno Inn, ignoring Hinata’s indignant squawk.

They are, as it turns out, barely a few minutes behind Suga and Daichi. Their long run really sped them up. Suga stands in the inn’s lobby, surrounded by people and next to Daichi.

“You went out swearing you could find help, and then come back with some random guy?” one of them asks. “Daichi, I thought you had more sense than this.”

Kageyama’s shoulders stiffen, and he’s about to march in and defend Suga when he feels a light touch on his wrist.

“Don’t,” Hinata whispers. “He has to do this himself.”

“This is Sugawara-san’s son,” Daichi says with a gesture to Suga. “He’s run the Angel Falls in since his father passed away a few years ago. Do you really think I’d bring back someone I didn’t think could help?”

“Sugawara Koushi.” Suga bows. “I look forward to working with you all.”

“I’ve heard that before,” someone mutters.

“Bit of a difference between running an inn in Nowhere Town and here in Stornway,” someone else points out, studying Suga. Hinata actually _growls_ at that, and it’s Kageyama’s turn to grab his wrist and keep him from storming in.

“I think he can do it,” Daichi says. “Besides, it isn’t like we can do worse, is it?”

“We aren’t out of business yet.” The first one frowns at Suga. “Country Boy here might get us there.” They turn their back, then, refusing to look at Suga.

Even with Suga’s back to them, Kageyama can see Suga’s perfect pleasant innkeeper smile drop, just for an instant, before it comes right back. “I’m not a country boy.” _Oh, they’re dead._ That tone of voice is bad news.

“So who are you, then?” the first person demands, wheeling around. “You’ve run an inn since your father passed on, so I suppose Daichi asked and you figured running Karasuno’s just the same as running your little two-guests-a-year one-room house in your village back home?”

Kageyama almost feels bad for them.

He’s seen the slow smirk that creeps onto Suga’s face when he has a genuine challenge in front of him a thousand times, and yep, that first person takes a stumbling step backward. Suga doesn’t look scary often, doesn’t have to, but that doesn’t mean he _can’t._

“I’m Sugawara Koushi,” Suga says, “son of Sugawara Hiroki, the legendary Inncredible Innkeeper, recipient of an Inny from King Michimiya and the royal family of Stornway.” He pulls the huge award out of his bag with a grunt. “And if you’re willing to give me a chance, I’d like to help.”

Everyone’s jaws drop at the sight of the Inny. _They’re that impressed by an award that’s not even his?_

Apparently. It takes approximately two seconds for everyone to fall into a bow.

“Please don’t do that.” Suga’s probably blushing. He hates this kind of thing. “Uh, stop? Please get up?”

 _“Now_ we can go in,” Hinata whispers, so the two of them walk into the inn’s front room.

“Suga-san!” Hinata calls.

“Hinata! And Kageyama.” Suga gives them both a warm smile. “You know, when I said you could visit, I meant after we were set up. I don’t think we can take guests yet.”

“I’m sure they’re only here to make sure you’re safe,” Daichi says, covering a laugh. “You two don’t have to worry.”

“I’m actually here for another reason,” Hinata offers. “I’m gonna go around and see who I can help, here.”

“By yourself?” Suga asks.

“I’ve got Kageyama.” Hinata points to him.

“You know,” Daichi says, “give us a few hours to set up and reopen, and I’m sure I can find you some support. There’s always adventurers here who are bored and want more excitement than they get. Just feed them and they’ll pretty much follow you anywhere.”

“Ohhh yeah, food.” Hinata looks thoughtful. “…I might not have packed any.”

“I did.” Kageyama taps his bag. “We’ll need more eventually.” He leaves out the shout of _how could you possibly forget to pack food of all things, you idiot._

“There’s a message board in the center of town,” Daichi says. “If you’re looking for odd jobs, that’s the place to start.”

“Thanks, Daichi-san!” Hinata waves farewell as they leave. “Where’s the center of town?”

“That way, obviously.”

“That’s not obvious,” Hinata says, scrunching his nose.

“It’s away from the gate and there’s only one street.”

Hinata, instead of responding, jogs along the road, checking over his shoulder to make sure he hasn’t lost Kageyama. The bulletin board isn’t too hard to find, and Hinata scans it.

“Mmm, most of this is like, tutoring work…Kageyama, what’s rent mean?”

“You’re a wandering minstrel and you don’t know that word?” Kageyama stares at him. “It means paying someone to use something of theirs. Like Suga-san rents out part of his inn to people who give him money.”

“I’m not a minstrel,” Hinata says. “You all thought I was, and it wasn’t like I could say otherwise, since I’m not supposed to remember.”

“You look like one.”

 _“Wow,_ well, you look like there’s a perpetual stick up your butt, but do I _point it out?”_ Hinata demands. “Sheesh.” He goes back to studying the board. “Oh! Here’s something! ‘A mysterious knight in black armor is terrorizing our town. If anyone is brave enough to fight him, come to the castle. Anyone will do. King Michimiya of Stornway.’ We can fight some knight, can’t we?”

“Are you insane? No.” Kageyama stares at Hinata. “Do you know how much training knights go through? And if it’s a knight, he probably has a horse. Which is taller than both of us.”

“Like, on top of each other’s shoulders?” Hinata asks.

“Have you seriously never seen a horse.”

“There were some in Angel Falls, but they weren’t really that tall…”

“Knight horses are bigger than that.”

Hinata frowns. “But it’s like, the only thing I can help with. And Daichi-san said he could find us backup. And look at this note, it’s really desperate…Narita-san, why aren’t you helping with this?”

“Did you actually just ask Stornway’s Guardian why he makes the decisions he does?”

“I—oh.” Hinata scrunches his nose. “I thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t. Not really. I think the entire thing’s a load of crap, probably. The Guardian back home didn’t help Suga when his dad died, and when I asked Shouyou…not you, the Guardian…to help you, I don’t think he did anything either.”

Hinata studies him, a frown on his face. “What if they just…can’t do as much as you think they can?”

“What.”

“Like…” Hinata flaps his hands. “What if they _want_ to help, but sometimes they can’t? Sometimes there’s maybe just nothing they can do. And it’s not like they ever appear to mortals, so they can’t explain…what if you guys are just way overestimating what we can do?”

“What’s even the _point_ of guarding humanity if you can’t…” Kageyama cuts off and gives the shorter boy a hard stare. “We?”

“Mixed up my words,” Hinata mutters. “Talking too fast. Sorry.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot, huh.”

“Mmhmm.” Hinata faces the board. “Anyway, I think we’ll be okay. It can’t hurt to ask, can it?”

“Fine.” Hinata grins and turns to the castle. “But we’re getting you normal clothes first, or they won’t take you seriously.”

“Where do you get normal clothes?” _Shouldn’t he know that?_

“Over there.” Kageyama points. “You have some money from defeating all those monsters, right?”

“Yeah.” Hinata pokes his bag. “I guess they must steal it off people who can’t beat them.”

“Obviously.” Kageyama leads the way to the shop. “Just look through and find something that fits you.”

Hinata finds something almost immediately, a blue-belted yellow tunic that looks absolutely awful with his orange hair. “Can I keep my boots?”

“I meant armor.” Kageyama refolds the tunic. “We’re going into battle, moron.”

“Armor isn’t _normal.”_

“It is if you’re a traveling fighter.” Kageyama finds a set of leather armor that looks appropriately tiny and tosses it to Hinata. “Which you are now. So try that on.”

Hinata pulls on the dark blue shirt first, and fumbles the armor on. “I don’t know how to buckle this,” he admits after a few minutes. Kageyama looks at the hopeless mess he’s created, sighs, and starts untangling the straps into something approaching normal.

“How did you even screw it up this badly?”

“It’s hard if you’re not used to it!”

Kageyama sighs again. “There. Does that feel okay?”

“Uh…” Hinata moves his shoulders. “I guess? I think it fits.”

It looks like it fits to Kageyama’s admittedly-inexperienced eye. Not falling off him, at least. “Keep your boots and leggings, for now. You’ll look stupid, but you always do, so that shouldn’t bother you.”

“I thought the whole point of this was for me to look less stupid,” Hinata mutters, but he pays the shop owner.

“No, the point is for you to look sort of vaguely competent.” Kageyama tugs on his own tunic to straighten it out. “Let’s just go.”

Hinata wrinkles his nose, buckles his sword across his back, and puffs out his chest. “Like this?”

“Stop puffing, you look like a kid.”

“I’m two—sixteen. I’m sixteen. That’s a kid, right?”

“Are you _sure_ you don’t really have amnesia?” Kageyama taps Hinata’s forehead. “Yes, that’s a kid, idiot Hinata.”

“Not amnesia,” Hinata mutters. “Just adjusting. Home doesn’t really have all the words you do.”

“Where is home?” Kageyama asks. “I know you don’t like talking about it…”

“It’s not that I don’t like to.” Hinata plays with one of the buckles on his armor. “I love home, I’d go back if I could. I’m just, uh, stuck for a while, I guess? S’why I’m in Stornway. Thought if I could do enough good…”

“They kicked you out?” Kageyama instantly goes from curious to angry. “Are they the reason you were hurt so badly?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Hinata shakes his head. “They wouldn’t, they’d be upset if they knew I’d been hurt. It’s just…I’m lost, I can’t find my way back, and they don’t really know where to look for me, I think. It’s a big world. And I uh, I used to look different.”

“So basically you’re hoping to save the town, become the local hero, and spread your name around so they can find you.”

“Yeah!” Hinata nods. “This knight problem’s _perfect.”_

“If you get yourself killed I’m not making any effort to track down your home.”

Hinata rolls his eyes. “Like you could! Come on, I wanna do this before it gets dark.”

And that’s the end of that.

Not helpful _at all._

…Well, except he guesses he can look out for people dressed in clothes like Hinata’s weird dangly shirt?

Hinata talks to the guards at the castle gate, and after some polite bowing and assurance that yes, he can fight, and yes, he wants to help, the two of them are allowed in.

“What’s the Stornway king’s name, again?” Hinata hisses to him.

“Michimiya.”

“You’re here about the sign?” a guard asks, and when Hinata nods, “Just this way, sir, up this flight of stairs.”

_Sir?_

They must be really desperate if they’re calling _Hinata_ a sir.

Hinata climbs the stairs, Kageyama just behind him, and they walk into the throne room.

“Whoops,” Hinata mutters. He puts out a hand to stop Kageyama. “I think we interrupted…”

“Yui, how many times must we tell you? You’re not to go see him!”

“And how many times do I have to tell _you?”_ Kageyama vaguely recognizes the short-haired girl as Princess Yui. “The Wight Knight keeps coming to town because he’s looking for me! If I go to him, everyone here can live their lives in peace again.”

“You’re being ridiculous, lassie!” The King has a habit of waving his hands in the air, Kageyama notices. “Do I look like the kind of man who’d sacrifice his daughter to that nefarious knight?”

 _“Nefarious?”_ Kageyama whispers.

_“Um, ‘evil’, I think?”_

Yui opens her mouth for a counterargument when the King looks up and notices them. “Wheesht! We have visitors, Yui, now stop arguing! You, there, approach the throne!”

“This is kinda awkward,” Hinata mutters. Kageyama quietly agrees. He can feel the tension, crackling in the air like a physical storm. Hinata approaches, though, with a proper formal bow that Kageyama is actually _amazed_ he knows how to do.

“I am King Michimiya, master of this castle and monarch of Stornway.” Michimiya stands. “Are you here because of the sign in the town down there?”

Hinata nods. Apparently he’s forgotten how talking works.

“Great!” The king claps his hands together. “So you’re going to help us defeat that no-good Wight Knight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Crivvens!” Hinata tries (and fails) not to grin at that, and Kageyama resists the urge to stomp on his foot. “You want to take up the challenge to defeat the Wight Knight? Tell me your name!”

“I’m Hinata Shouyou.” Hinata bows again. “And this is Kageyama Tobio.”

“Pleased to meet you, Your Majesty,” Kageyama manages.

“All right, listen up.” The king looks at them both in turn. “Obviously, I have good reason to ask a couple of passers-through to defeat this no-good knight. You see…” He turns and gestures to Yui. “That _puddock_ only came and infiltrated my castle to try and snatch away my daughter!”

At least that explains the argument they overheard. “He’s had the nerve to demand she be delivered to him at Loch Storn by a certain time. Now, I’m convinced it’s some kind of fiendish trap. I reckon he’s trying to weaken my castle’s defenses by having me send my soldiers to the loch with her, and then he’ll attack!”

“Um,” Hinata says. “That…sounds reasonable?”

“That’s why I wanted to employ a likely lad or two, such as your good selves, instead.” The king looks proud of himself for coming up with this entire plan.

Hinata opens his mouth to accept, and Yui interrupts. _“Father,_ you can’t just ask two strangers to do something like that for you!”

“Wheesht!” For the life of him, Kageyama can’t figure out what that noise is. “I won’t let that ruffian get the better of me!”

Yui’s eyes narrow. “Father, this is my decision, and I wish you would respect my feelings on the matter.” She sounds brave, but Kageyama sees the too-bright eyes under the strong façade, and sure enough, she runs out a second later.

The king coughs into his hand. “Sorry about that. My lass likes to do the right thing, and she’s decided the right thing to do is go up there and meet him. She’s a wee bit stubborn…anyway, Hinata, was it? And Kageyama? I’d be much obliged if you could away to Loch Storn and make sure he’s not up to any trickery. Just cross the bridge north of town, keep heading north, and you’ll find your way to the loch before too long.” A glint Kageyama recognizes from pretty much every time Suga’s been close to losing a game ever appears in the king’s eye. “Be sure to give him a good thrashing if you find him, won’t you? Just pummel the fiend into the ground!…Naturally there’ll be a braw reward waiting for you when you get back. I’m pinning all my hopes on you two!”

“Uh.” Hinata bows. “Thank you, Your Majesty. We’ll do our best.” Another bow, and then Hinata scoots backward, tugging Kageyama with him.

“Now what?” Kageyama whispers. “Do we go back to Karasuno?”

“I guess,” Hinata says. “We shouldn’t make a trip that long at night, right?”

“Coming from the guy who _fell off a fucking waterfall?”_ Hinata flinches, and Kageyama immediately regrets his life choices. “Sorry.”

“Was a little farther than the waterfall.” Hinata manages a smile. “But yeah. Back to Karasuno. Suga-san and Daichi-san are probably set up now, right? So that means they can help us find friends to back us up while we find this Wight Knight person, and then in the morning we’ll go fight them and I’ll split the reward with everyone and it’ll be fine.”

One day he’s going to figure out how this tiny child can flip the switch from ‘unhappy’ to ‘happy’ so _fast._ “Yeah. Let’s go back.”

Hinata follows the road back and only winds up lost once, and soon enough they’re ‘home’. Suga is there waiting, and he gives a bright smile when they walk through the door. “Glad to see you two back.”

“We’re gonna go track down a knight that’s trying to kidnap Princess Yui,” Hinata announces.

“First you’re going to sleep.” Suga ruffles Hinata’s poofy hair. “I think Daichi and I found you some help, but you can wait to meet them until the morning. Get some rest.”

“Don’t need to,” but Hinata’s eyes are drooping, and he lets out a yawn.

“Mmhmm,” Suga nods. “Kageyama, catch.” He throws a key that Kageyama barely catches in time. The long run is definitely catching up with them both. “First room on the left. There’s an elevator if you look past the desk on the left…just get in and press the button, okay?”

Kageyama has no idea what an elevator is, but he nods anyway, supporting Hinata’s sleepy stagger behind him. “Why do you get tired so fast?”

“’M not used to sleep,” and all right, he’s talking nonsense now, officially into the Probably Already Asleep And Just Sleepwalking stage. “How do you _do_ this?” Kageyama pushes the button on the elevator, the floor moves upward with a jolt, and holy shit they’re going to die why is the floor moving.

“I don’t have the stamina of a five-year-old.” Truth be told, he’s exhausted too, but the need to find a bed for himself and Hinata keeps him awake. Mostly. More than Hinata, anyway. He stumbles out of the elevator, Hinata still holding onto him, and slots the key into the door and twists the knob.

Two beds, thank the Almighty. Kageyama deposits Hinata on one. “Take your armor off.”

“Don’t know how,” Hinata says, fumbling with one strap. “Like… _ow.”_

“Wrong way.” He’s gone and made it too tight. Kageyama sighs and helps him, unbuckling the armor and shoving it back into Hinata’s bag. “There, now go to sleep.”

“Mmmm.” Hinata burrows under the blanket, and Kageyama rolls his eyes. What a _child._

 

A child that’s up at the ass-crack of dawn, pulling the blinds open and bouncing on Kageyama’s bed. Kageyama opens one eye to glare at him, which does exactly nothing to deter the bouncing. “Wake up, Tiredyama-kun!”

“How are you so fucking awake this early."

“Please, the sun’s been up for like, a whole hour.” Hinata grins at him, the bright one that Kageyama’s still deciding if he likes or hates. “Suga-san’s awake, even!”

Suga is not a morning person, Kageyama knows, and the knowledge that _Suga_ beat him awake makes him sit up. “Ugh. How long have you been up?”

“Um…three hours, I think?” He’s already dressed and everything.

“You were so tired,” Kageyama mutters, throwing the blanket back (it lands on Hinata, who squawks and thrashes his way out of it).

“I don’t need much sleep!” Hinata’s head pokes out from the covers. “Hurry up and get dressed so we can _go!”_

He’s saddled himself with a maniacally cheerful idiot.

His own stupid fault.

He tugs on his clothes and shoes and locks the door behind them. Hinata squeaks at the elevator’s motion (Kageyama isn’t used to it yet either) and throws out his arms to balance himself.

“Don’t be such a kid about it,” Kageyama says, hoping Hinata doesn’t remember his own slightly-undignified yell when he’d pushed the button and it had _moved_ last night.

Hinata just gives him a baleful glare and clings to one wall until the elevator stops moving. He scrambles out and practically runs to the front of the inn. “Good morning, Suga-san! Daichi-san!”

“Good morning.” Suga smiles at Hinata. “I suppose I don’t need to ask if you slept well…”

“Your inn’s awesome!” Hinata is abruptly cut off by a loud growl from his stomach. “Oh, um, sorry…”

“Food before you meet your new party members,” Suga decides. “Sit down, both of you, I’ve got breakfast made. And lunch. And dinner. Hinata said you might be gone for a while.”

Sugawara Koushi is such a _parent._ He comes out with a ridiculous number of wrapped food boxes that Hinata carefully places into his bag, and sets two more in front of Hinata and Kageyama. “Eat your breakfast, both of you.”

Neither of them has to be told twice. The food is gone in five minutes, and Hinata only coughs on a too-big bite once. For him, that’s a minor miracle. (Truth be told, Kageyama wonders sometimes if he really _did_ hit his head and forget how to eat.)

“Can we meet ‘em now?” Hinata asks around his last mouthful. “Please?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s disgusting,” Kageyama tells him, making a face.

“Swallow your food first.” Suga hides a laugh in his smile, and when Hinata does, “They’re all awake now, so follow me.”

Hinata bounds to his feet with a completely unwarranted enthusiasm, and Kageyama wonders (not for the first time) if Hinata understands the difference between _extremely temporary ally_ and _friend._

Probably not.

Suga takes them through a door on the left side of the inn, and wow, okay, he’s found them _a lot_ of help.

There’s a pair of martial artists (no one else wears that kind of tunic), one who’s built like a mountain and is definitely older than Kageyama and Hinata (and possibly also Suga), and a Hinata-size one with hair that _has_ to be spiked up artificially. No way does it grow like that. He spots a duo with wands or staffs, Kageyama can’t tell the difference immediately from this distance. One, the blond, reads one of Suga’s books on a couch and barely looks up, and the other one (green-haired and freckly) appears to be using the blond as a pillow. And a…warrior, Kageyama assumes, talking to the smaller martial artist. Shaved head and everything. Honestly, they’re all a little scary.

Hinata ducks behind him, and Kageyama prods him back out. “This stupid adventure was your idea, so you get to talk to them.”

“You didn’t mention our fearless leader was a short people-shy idiot, Sugawara-san,” the blond remarks, barely looking up from his book.

“Tsukishima-kun, please.” Suga runs one hand through his hair (which makes more of it than usual stick up). “He’s a capable fighter, and I’m sure he’ll be a fine leader.”

“If you say so.” Tsukishima raises one eyebrow at Hinata with a look that says _I think you’re wrong,_ and Hinata snarls under his breath until Suga puts a hand on his shoulder to settle him down. “Yamaguchi, wake up.” He pokes the green-haired boy. “We’re leaving, Yamaguchi.”

“Uh?” Yamaguchi’s eyes open. “Oh. Sorry, Tsukki…”

He gets off Tsukishima’s lap and sits up, rubbing his eyes. “Nice to meet you…two?”

“Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi,” Suga says. Yamaguchi gives an awkward couch-bow, and Tsukishima just lifts his hand in a wave. “A mage and a priest, respectively.”

“Suga-san, how come they get introduced first?” the smaller martial artist complains.

“Sorry, Noya.” Suga smiles. “This is Nishinoya Yuu, Azumane Asahi, and Tanaka Ryuunosuke.” He points to the small one, the big one, and the shaved-head one in turn. “Two martial artists and a warrior. You’re going to lean a bit fighter-heavy, sorry.”

“What are you two supposed to be?” Tsukishima asks.

“He's a minstrel,” Kageyama says when Hinata doesn’t answer. Hinata grumbles at the name, but he doesn't correct it. “I’m a warrior.” Technically.

“So now that we all know each other, can we go do…whatever it is we’re doing?” Tanaka asks. “Suga-san didn’t really explain.”

“We’re gonna go defeat the Wight Knight!” Asahi turns a few shades paler at that, and Nishinoya grins up at him.

“Don’t do that, Asahi-san, it’ll be fine! There’s like, ten of us and only one of him!”

“I’m stuck with a bunch of morons who can’t count to seven,” Tsukishima mutters. “We’re doomed.”

Kageyama’s only just met Tsukishima and he _already_ hates him, and seeing Yamaguchi’s quiet snicker, he doesn’t think he cares for the priest much, either.

But they all have basic equipment, enough to see them through a fight, and they all _apparently_ know what they’re doing, so Kageyama swallows his complaints about the personality of their magic-users. _It would have been nice to have a healer around back when Hinata was practically comatose,_ he reminds himself. _If someone gets hurt, you’ll be glad they’re on your side._

That voice sounds more like Sugawara than him.

“We gotta get going, Kageyama, come _on!”_ Hinata pokes him.

“I’m ready,” Kageyama snaps back. He falls into the line forming behind Hinata, who apparently gets to lead, already missing the headlong race to their next destination.

_Like we could exhaust ourselves like that going into a fight anyway._

Still, Hinata setting a brisk-but-not-running pace is a lot more boring than Hinata racing beside him, shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to outrun and out-yell Kageyama. Kageyama would almost believe he was a decent leader if he hadn’t spent the last week watching him try to figure out how eating, bathing, and personal hygiene worked.

Loch Storn is a long walk north, but they get there eventually. Hinata, of course, hops around and looks at _everything,_ and yells for Kageyama to come look at a bush or the water or something stupid no fewer than three times. Kageyama finally makes him sit down after he nearly falls off the cliff and spends the next ten minutes crying uncontrollably for some dumbass Hinata reason.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be waiting for the Princess here?” Yamaguchi asks.

“Maybe he’s late?” Hinata shrugs.

Lunchtime comes and goes, then dinnertime. They eat in shifts, some watching for the Wight Knight while the rest eat as fast as they can.

When the moon rises, Hinata looks up, and for an instant Kageyama swears the light reflecting off his eyes makes him look like he’s about to cry, but he blinks and it’s gone. “I…don’t think he’s coming.”

“We’ve been waiting here _all day,”_ Nishinoya protests, waving his hand (Asahi, the closest to him, leans back from the set of claws on his glove). “He _has_ to show up.”

“I’m pretty sure he lacks a grasp on basic etiquette,” Tsukishima says. “Also, we don’t have the Princess, in case you haven’t noticed. He probably knows we’re not Stornway Castle knights.”

“Should we go back to Stornway?”

Hinata sighs. “We can’t do anything else, right?” Oddly enough, he seems to be speaking to a point in front of him, instead of any of them. “Yeah, let’s go back.”

“We’ll just tell the King the Wight Knight slept in today,” Tanaka says, and thumps Hinata’s back. “It’ll be fine. We’ll come back tomorrow, even!” He ignores the face Tsukishima makes.

The ground shakes, and for a second Kageyama’s only thought is _earthquake earthquake another earthquake_ and then _where’s Hinata?_

Fine. He’s fine. Still standing, even.

“What was _that,”_ Nishinoya mutters, standing back up. “Asahi-san, I think the ground’s gonna hold still now, you can get up.”

Hinata turns and tilts his face up toward one of the cliffs that flanks the little space they’re in. Kageyama follows his gaze, and because they’re incredibly lucky or unlucky depending on who you ask, there the Wight Knight is. Horse and everything.

The horse rears and hops down the cliff like a fucking _mountain goat,_ and stops in front of Hinata, who takes an automatic step back. “Who are you?”

“H-H-H-Hi…” Hinata stops, closes his eyes, breathes, and stands straight. “Shouyou.”

“I have no business with you. Where is the Princess?” The Wight Knight pulls a lance off his back, and Kageyama pulls Hinata backward. “Release the Princess!” He points the lance at Hinata. _There are seven of us here, why is he fixating?_ “Release my beautiful Princess!”

His helmet flies up to reveal a fucking _skull_ with fucking _glowing red eyes_ under it, and yep, this is a fight. Definitely.

“Why is he fucking _dead?”_ Nishinoya yells behind them.

“Who cares, get back!” Tanaka shouts. “Shit, why didn’t anyone mention that he was a zombie?”

“We can handle a zombie,” Hinata says. “Probably?”

“We’re gonna have to, he’s blocking the exit.” Nishinoya grabs the claw set for his other hand out and pulls it on. “Asahi-san, Yamaguchi, you two okay?”

Asahi looks completely terrified, but he straightens up. “We’re fine.”

“Right, let’s do this, then… _oh sweet Almighty above he’s charging us with his horse get out of the way.”_

The fight really only goes downhill from there.

The Wight Knight has some kind of bullshit spear magic that lets him stab the air multiple times and hit them all at once, on top of being an _undead zombie on a horse._ Also, Hinata doesn’t want them to hurt the horse, and they can’t knock him off it, which makes dealing damage of their own difficult.

“I talked to a guy who said the Wight Knight stole his horse,” he says, “so that’s a real horse, and it belongs to someone else, and we can’t hurt it!”

And it’s nice that Hinata has a moral code, but not being able to hurt the horse makes this about fifty times harder than it would otherwise be.

“Aren’t priests supposed to be good with the undead?” Tanaka shouts at one point, fending off the knight’s lance so Hinata can sneak in an attack.

“That’s kind of an advanced thing…” Yamaguchi’s cheeks turn pink, and is he seriously _embarrassed,_ they’re fighting a battle here. “I’m really only good with healing, and I can’t cast higher-level heal spells yet.”

The armor also complicates things. Tsukishima’s spells are far more effective than Hinata and Kageyama’s swords (especially Hinata’s), Nishinoya’s claws and Asahi’s blows glance off it, and Yamaguchi mostly hangs back and heals as needed.

But the Wight Knight _finally_ slumps forward and off his horse, kneeling in front of Hinata, and Hinata waves at them to drop back and puts his sword away.

“I don’t understand.” The Wight Knight leans on one knee. “Why would the Princess send you in her place? Why has my beloved Yue forsaken me? Does our promise no longer mean anything to her?”

The intonation of her name is wrong, an ‘ay’ sound instead of ‘ee’, and…why is Hinata looking at nothing. He faces away from the Wight Knight, in the perfect position for a surprise attack, and shakes his head at the air.

“Is…is that really true?” the Wight Knight asks abruptly, head coming up. _Is what?_ A brief pause, and then “You have to tell me. Is the girl in the castle really not Princess Yue?”

“No,” Hinata says. “I’m sorry. Her name’s Yui.”

“Oh, woe is me!” Who still says that? “So she wasn’t my princess after all…now you mention it, she wasn’t wearing the royal necklace of Brigadoom…” Now it’s his turn to sheathe his weapon and stand facing away from Hinata. Nishinoya makes a move forward, but Hinata gestures him back and shakes his head.

“…I was in a very deep sleep…then the earthquake happened, and I woke in this strange land feeling as if I had been released from some kind of prison…I’d completely lost my memory, so much so that I didn’t even remember who I was anymore.”

“Would you allow me to take you home?” Hinata’s speech takes on a weirdly formal quality, but the Knight doesn’t even seem to notice.

“Then I saw that princess, and it brought it all back to me. Memories of Yue and I.” The Knight turns to face Hinata again. “I remembered that I am the Wight Knight, and I remembered that Yue is the princess of my homeland of Brigadoom.”

There’s no kingdom named Brigadoom, is there?

“Princess Yue and I had sworn undying love for each other and were to be wed.” As much so as a person wearing a full-face helmet can, the Knight looks and sounds upset. “…I must do the honorable thing. I must return to that castle and apologize for my mistake.”

Hinata turns sideways for a moment before facing the Wight Knight again.

“Make things worse?” the Wight Knight asks. “Yes, I fear you may be correct.” The helmet turns to look at Hinata. “Then, perhaps you could take them a message on my behalf? Tell them I won’t go near the place again. I’m sure the real Princess Yue will be waiting for me back in Brigadoom. All I have to do now is find my way home.” He walks back to his horse, mounts up, and canters away.

“All right, who were you two talking to?” Nishinoya asks.

“Oh.” Hinata casts a slightly guilty look at the ground. “Um, I’m a little more sensitive to spirit-y stuff than most people, I guess. I don’t really know why. But I met a fairy a while ago, and we’ve been traveling together. He came out to talk to me about the Wight Knight. I forgot you guys can’t see him.”

Well, that makes as much sense as anything else. “And we’re just going to let him go?”

“He’s a ghost,” Hinata says, sighing. “I think. And…once they achieve their last wish, they move on. If Princess Yue is really still in Brigadoom, he’ll find her and get to say goodbye, and then he can pass on in peace. Or…if enough time’s passed, he’ll find she’s gone and want to join her in the afterlife.”

“That's a surprisingly logical thought pattern from you," Tsukishima says. "The problem is, there's no such thing as Brigadoom. Did you really not realize that?"

Hinata frowns after the long-vanished Knight. “I didn’t know…well, it’ll be fine, probably. We should get back to Stornway.”

“Are we just going to ignore the _ghosts exist_ thing?” Yamaguchi asks.

Kageyama agrees, but he lets Hinata throw a chimera wing that takes them to Stornway’s entrance without pushing for an explanation.            

“There you are.” Suga looks up from the table. “Welcome home. Did you do what you needed to?”

“We found out Shouyou talks to fairies,” Nishinoya announces. “Also we fought a zombie.”

Hinata turns red when Suga gives him a raised eyebrow. “I’lltellyoulatercanwepleasejustsleep.”

“I’ve got money,” Kageyama adds, counting out coins and placing them in front of Suga, not giving him a chance to turn it down.

Suga gives a grumbling noise, but tosses him the key. “I set up extra mattresses earlier. Enough for everyone to have their own bed if they want.”

“You’re our favorite innkeeper, Suga-san,” Asahi says, hiding a yawn.

“I _better_ be.” Suga grins. “Now go get some sleep. And a bath. The King can wait until morning.”

They take turns bathing, oldest first, Hinata last, and crawl one by one into their mattresses. Suga’s taken down the bed frames, Kageyama notices, and just scattered mattresses and blankets and pillows around the room.

He’s only known these people a day, but he still sleeps better among the group of strangers than he had in Angel Falls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Hinata might be in love with a tree.  
> (Also sorry for not changing the Wight Knight's name. I just got lazy, tbh, and I couldn't think of a good wordplay. Dragon Quest's puns are not something even Haikyuu can compete with. I promise the folks in the next arc are proper Haikyuus!)


	3. Act 1: Stornway (2/3)

Nishinoya and Hinata wake up within ten minutes of each other the next morning, and between the two of them, they get everyone up with impressive speed. Tsukishima, the last to wake up, threatens to set them on fire at one point, and they make absolutely sure his wand is out of reach before they throw the blankets off his bed.

“I can cast without my wand, you know,” Tsukishima points out, fumbling for his glasses and sitting up.

“Yeah, but you won’t, ‘cause Suga would be upset if you set his inn on fire.” Tanaka grins at Tsukishima. “So get up and get dressed, slowpoke, before we go to the castle without you.”

“I think I prefer being unemployed.” Tsukishima pulls on his clothes and shoes. “It’s quieter.”

“Well, _I_ prefer actually eating food more than once a day.” Yamaguchi yawns and slots his wand into its holster on his back. “Even if you guys do get up way too early…”

“Is the sun even up yet?” Asahi asks.

Nishinoya peeks out the window. “Technically.”

Tsukishima groans at that. “Let’s get this over with, then.” He turns to Hinata, who stares at Yamaguchi. “Shrimp. Time to go.”

“You’re a priest and you only eat once a day?” Hinata sounds completely horrified.

“Oh.” Yamaguchi waves a hand at him. “The church here doesn’t really have enough to feed all their students, so…I’m used to it. And I find bread and stuff around, that people throw out, and Tsukki sneaks me food too. I’ll be fine, don’t worry!”

Hinata keeps staring for a long moment before he shakes his head. “Right. Um. Okay. Let’s go!”

Suga greets them with a smile and the smell of breakfast for them and the inn’s other guests (Kageyama has to hide a smile when he hears them talking about the friendly new innkeeper). “Good morning.”

“Suga-san, were you up all night?” Kageyama asks.

“I’m about to go to bed,” Suga informs him. “I took the night shift for check-ins…don’t give me that look, it’s still better than sleeping on the inn floor back home.”

“Maybe a little.”

“A _lot,_ so don’t make that face, I can take care of myself.” Suga sets plates of food in front of them. “You’re going to tell the King how your expedition yesterday went?”

“Mmhmm.” Hinata nods through his food, swallows, and clarifies. “Just a misunderstanding. He’s going back home now.”

He avoids the whole topic of zombies, Kageyama notices, and the fact that the Wight Knight’s home doesn’t exist.

He’s picked up the ability to not worry someone more than necessary alarmingly fast.

“Good job.” Suga yawns. “I’m going to sleep, but you’ll have to tell me about it when I’m awake, all right? Before you go wherever it is you’re going next.” He ruffles Hinata’s hair on his way out, something Hinata makes a face at but doesn’t actively protest.

Hinata’s food disappears in two minutes. The rest of them take slightly longer (Tsukishima takes the longest, but Yamaguchi wolfs it down like he thinks someone might steal it), and once everyone finishes, they clean up for Sugawara and run to the castle. The guards recognize Hinata and let him through (they do not recognize Kageyama, to his annoyance), and Hinata hops up the steps to the throne room as fast as he can.

They’ve interrupted something again, _of course._ Yui stands in front of the two thrones (both occupied today), and Hinata skids to a halt and hushes the rest of them.

“Mother, Father, I’ve decided that I’m going to answer to the knight’s demands.”

The queen, who Kageyama knows has a bit of a reputation for hysteria, promptly bursts into tears. “Yui, no, please!”

“There’s nothing to cry over, you silly besom! I’ll never allow her to go!” _Allow?_ How old is Yui, anyway? Kageyama’s pretty sure she’s around Suga’s age. More than old enough to make her own decisions. Do different rules apply for royalty? _“_ Ach _,_ they’ll be the death of me, these two…” He looks up from his sobbing wife and notices the group (well, mostly Hinata, everyone else hides in the stairway trying not to look like they’re eavesdropping on the royal family). “Ah! It’s Hinata! I’ve been waiting on the edge of my throne for you to come back. Hurry closer now!”

“Uh, yes, sir.” Hinata walks forward, motioning the rest of them to come with him.

“It’s good to see you back with us, Hinata. So tell me, what news is there of the Wight Knight?”

“Oh!” Hinata gives the King his brightest, sunniest grin. “I don’t think he’ll be back. See, Princess Yui looks an awful lot like his fiancée back at his home, and he kinda lost his memory, and he got all mixed up and thought you guys were holding her captive. We set him straight, and now he’s going back to his own kingdom! It’s called Brigadoom, and I think it’s a long way away from here.”

“You’re telling me he just lost his memory and mistook my Yui for his fiancée? And he told you he’s going off to find Brigadoom now so he won’t be bothering us again?” Hinata nods, but the King stands up from his throne. “And you believed him!? Sounds like a ham-a-haddie to me.” _A what._ “That blethering skite can’t be trusted!”

Kageyama understood roughly half of that (Stornway’s close to them, and they _technically_ have a common language, but the slang is different), and barely manages to refrain from rolling his eyes. He had no idea the King of Stornway was so unreasonable.

“Father!” Yui scolds. “Why do you have such a low opinion of him? What did he ever do to you?”

The King settles back into his throne with a _hmph._ “I’ve never even heard of Brigadoom, for one thing. That proves he must be lying. So here’s the situation, Hinata. I’m sure that miscreant will be back here before long after my Yui again.”

Tsukishima gives a quiet _wonderful_ behind Kageyama as the King continues. “So until you put a stop to him once and for all, you can forget about trying to collect any reward!”

Hinata’s eyebrows pinch together, and he looks something close to annoyed, but before he can say anything, Yui interrupts. “Why do you refuse to believe his story, Father? If he really is on his own miles away from home, it must be terrible for him…”

“Och, lassie, I’m doing this all to protect you, you know. Do try to understand.” Yui gives him the best _what the fuck do you mean protect me_ look Kageyama’s ever seen, then, and runs out. The King blinks. “Yui?”

“Well.” Hinata turns back to the group. “I guess we’re tracking down Brigadoom now?”

Everyone slumps, but after a generally unenthusiastic round of nods, Hinata leads them back toward the stairs. They don’t get far before they run back into Yui, who stands just outside the throne room, before the stairs. “Hinata? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Um, okay.” Hinata nods.

“I don’t want anyone to overhear,” Yui continues. “My room’s through that door and to the east. Could we talk there? It’s about Brigadoom.”

“Can they come?” Hinata asks, pointing at the rest of the group. Yui nods, so Hinata bounces on his heels and gives her a full-on Hinata smile. “Sure!”

Yui smiles back at him, and it isn’t even a Princessy smile, it’s a real one. Kageyama stares as she leaves. “How do you _do_ that?”

“Do what?” Hinata blinks.

“Get everyone to love you immediately.” Kageyama gestures after the Princess. “She’s known you for like, twenty-four hours and she already trusts you.”

“Oh.” Hinata shrugs. “I don’t know _everything,_ Kageyama. Now come on, I don’t think you’re supposed to keep royalty waiting…”

“You don’t even know how to _eat,”_ Kageyama growls. Hinata just laughs and runs off before Kageyama can grab his hair.

“Feel free to go after him,” Tsukishima says, walking past him. “I refuse to explain this to you later if you miss it.”

Kageyama shakes his head and races after Hinata, who’s already out the door and running as fast as he can given the space constraints. Hinata beats him, of course, because Hinata had a head start, and he waves when Kageyama catches up. Once the rest of them finish streaming out of the door, Hinata knocks politely on the door and ducks inside.

“Sorry to ask you to come here like this.” Hinata opens his mouth for an _it’s okay,_ and Kageyama makes a frantic _shh_ motion. “Father would just try to interfere if he overheard. You see, I have actually heard of Brigadoom.”

“Really?” Hinata bounces on his heels. “That’s great! So…”

“I remember it from a nursery rhyme one of the maids used to sing to me when I was a wee girl.” The Princess smiles. “I don’t remember the rest of it, I’m sorry, but I’m certain she does! She’s gone back to live in Zere, now. It’s this beautiful town to the west of Loch Storn.”

“Ohhh, so that’s where that road goes…”

The Princess presses a hand to her heart. “Father’s wrong. The Wight Knight isn’t some evil princess-kidnapper. He needs help, Hinata. Please do whatever you can.”

Hinata straightens up before he bows so far forward Kageyama’s amazed he doesn’t hit his head on the floor. “Please leave it to us!”

The Princess smiles at him again, and Hinata leads them out. They stop long enough to tell Daichi where they’re going and why, and he brings out another huge pile of packed meals and wishes them luck and promises to fill in Suga as soon as he wakes up.

“I’ll make sure he knows you stopped in, now _go,_ Suga will murder me if he finds out I let you go on a trip that would last until dark.”

“Suga-san worries too much,” but they rush anyway. Hinata runs at the front of the pack, taking their arrow’s ‘point’, and the rest of them fall into position around him.

“That way, right?” Hinata calls when they’re nearly to Loch Storn. He points left.

“Well, that’s west, so yes, obviously.” Tsukishima rolls his eyes.

“Shut up, Tsukishima!” Hinata ducks left and keeps running. The monsters change, after a while, into living scarecrows, but they mostly don’t seem inclined to chase them.

Zere is an Angel Falls-sized village, with a gigantic tree in the center. Hinata gives a small _oh_ when he sees it and immediately runs up to it.

“It’s a tree, not your lover,” Tsukishima says, rolling his eyes.

Hinata nestles himself into a crevice in the trunk and gives a happy _hmmm_ noise, ignoring Tsukishima. It’s sort of cute (insofar as the word _cute_ can apply to someone so inherently _annoying_ ), seeing him cuddle into the tree like an old friend.

“If you’re done catching up with your tree,” Tsukishima says, dry as always, “we have a nursery rhyme to find.”

The thought that this, right here, might be Hinata’s home, strikes Kageyama. Zere isn’t too far from Angel Falls, after all, and it’s the kind of tight-knit little place that would miss one person and worry for them.

And it’s sheltered enough that if Hinata had been taken away, somehow, he might not have known how to get back. Zere keeps to itself, for the most part, a little tucked-away village under Stornway’s protection and happy that way. They don’t venture out much.

Hinata comes out of his reverie, pressing one hand to the bark and shoving himself up. “…S’not the same, though.”

“It’s a _tree.”_ Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “They’re all the same.”

“Not really,” Hinata mutters. “Sorry. Let’s go.”

Hinata’s homesickness is getting out of hand, and Kageyama decides that as soon as they get this Wight Knight business wrapped up, they’re going to sit Hinata down and find out where exactly he’s from and help him get home so he’ll stop getting that look on his face. He looks like a puppy left out in the cold every time anyone brings up something that even _vaguely_ reminds him of home.

Also, Kageyama’s really, really curious about how he hurt himself so badly getting ‘lost’.

He drops back to talk to Tsukishima. “What’s with you?” The taller boy has a _look_ on his face that’s worse than the usual one.

“Just thinking,” Tsukishima murmurs. “People don’t generally act the same way toward trees that they do toward their long-lost best friends. Are you sure we’re not being led by a lunatic?”

“He doesn’t like talking about his past.” Kageyama watches Hinata. “He was pretty badly injured when Suga-san and I found him. I don’t know exactly what’s going on with him, but I’m going to find out.”

“And you trust him?” Tsukishima raises one eyebrow.

“Yes.” Hell if he knows why, but Hinata could have just left him in Angel Falls, could have let him go to the pass by himself, could have not helped Suga. He’s never shown himself to be anything other than trustworthy, even if he is a little reluctant to open up. “He says he’s not a criminal. He’ll talk about the rest when he wants to.”

Tsukishima studies his face for a long moment, and the small smirk Kageyama’s learning to despise tugs at his mouth. “I see.”

“Nothing to see,” Kageyama mutters. “Let’s catch up before Hinata gets too far ahead. He probably wouldn’t even notice, he’s a dumbass.”

“If he’s managing to keep that large a secret and not lose your blind trust, he’s obviously not the dumbass.” Tsukishima ducks the punch Kageyama throws at him. “Careful, Kageyama-kun, our fearless leader won’t like to see us fight.”

“Can you two please not kill each other?” Asahi calls back over his shoulder.

Kageyama grunts, Tsukishima _tch_ s, and they run back to their respective spots in their arrow. Hinata beams at Kageyama when he falls in to Hinata’s right, and he tries not to notice how genuinely happy that smile is.

“There’s a house,” Hinata says, pointing. “Maybe over there?”

Yamaguchi, as the priest and therefore the least immediately threatening-looking, knocks and bows to the woman who opens the door.

“You’re looking for the lady who looked after Princess Yui as a child?” Yamaguchi nods. “That’d be my mom! Kaori, she’s called. Everyone knows her. She’s famous, ever since she came back from working for the royals. I think she’s gone to see her friend Yukie. Call in there and you should find her.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Yamaguchi says, with another bow. She nods and shuts the door.

“You realize she didn’t tell us where that is,” Tsukishima points out. Yamaguchi flushes bright red. _“Yamaguchi.”_

“Sorry, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi looks sheepishly down at the ground. “I guess we can just…keep asking?”

Kageyama snorts, making sure Tsukishima hears him. _“Tsukki?”_ He’s heard the nickname a few times now, but somehow hasn’t connected it with the grouchy blond mage. It’s so cutesy.

“Shut up,” Tsukishima growls at him.

“I didn’t think you’d let anyone nickname you like that,” Tanaka says, snorting. “That’s kinda cute. Can I call you that?”

“No.” Tsukishima glares. “Drop it. It’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.” Tanaka grins at Tsukishima. “Your secret’s safe with us.”

Tsukishima chooses not to respond to that, turning away with a _tch,_ and Kageyama really can’t help the smirk on his face. _Tsukki, huh._

Three houses and three irritated residents later, they finally find one with two older women in it. Hinata ducks in with a quiet _excuse the intrusion_.

“There you go again, Kaori, blethering about the old days.” One woman flaps her hand at the other one with a roll of her eyes.

The other woman smiles. “I was actually a wee bit jealous of you back then, Yukie…aye?” She looks over and catches sight of Hinata standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“We’ve got company! Welcome, welcome!”

Hinata throws himself into a deep bow. “Sorry for intruding! Um, we’re looking for Kaori-san, the woman who used to look after Princess Yui when she was a child?”

Kaori laughs. “That’s me, all right. Why do you ask?”

“Well…” Hinata frowns. “We’re trying to find an old nursery rhyme she remembers. She told us you used to sing it to her, so…”

“Ah, the rhyme I sang her when she was small?” Kaori smiles. “That’s an easy request. Yukie, dear, won’t you sing along with me?”

“The Right Knight ditty?” Yukie nods. “I could sing it in my sleep.” She turns to face the group and clears her throat.

 _“Giddy-up, giddy-up, and a-way he goes!”_ She claps along with the rhythm, providing a sort-of-backing for their voices.

 _“The Right Knight sets off in his steed, in search of evil he rides.”_ Kaori picks up the tune, swaying back and forth as she sings. _“If he can defeat the terrible beast, he’ll be home to wed his bride. The town is full of laughter, preparing a feast fit for a queen—“_

 _“Och, but then, disaster! The Right Knight’s nowhere to be seen!”_ Yukie sings. Hinata frowns at that.

 _“Bird, north, Brig-a-doomward on. Tell her that her knight is gone.”_ Kaori tilts her head to Yukie, who nods.

_“Bird, north, Brig-a-doomward on. Tell her that her knight is gone!”_

“And that’s the song,” Kaori says. “I do hope you enjoyed it.” She smiles at Hinata. “Now, why does Yui want to hear that rhyme again after all these years?”

“We’re, um…” Hinata gets that Look, the Look he gets when someone questions his odd behavior, the one Kageyama has learned means ‘how much should I tell them’.

“We’re trying to find Brigadoom,” Kageyama says.

Kaori raises one eyebrow. “Well, in that case, I’d pay attention to the part about the bird flying north. Why don’t you head north yourself and see what you find?”

“Thank you for your help,” Hinata says, bowing again before they all leave. It takes some crowding and shoving, but they get out the door mostly unscathed.

“So, north, right?” Hinata gives them a bright smile. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go to Brigadoom!”

Tsukishima opens his mouth, probably to point out that they have no idea where they’re going or that ‘north’ is hardly a decent starting point, but Nishinoya elbows him. Hinata herds them toward the town’s entrance (deliberately not looking at Zere’s tree, Kageyama notices).

_“SOMEBODY HELP ME!”_

Hinata comes to a halt when he hears that, just outside the town’s door. “…Do you guys hear hoofbeats?”

Kageyama opens his mouth to say _what_ when he hears them too, a staccato beat on the road. He sees the black horse from earlier gallop through Zere’s gate. The man standing by Zere’s Guardian statue panics and runs, and the Wight Knight follows until he’s backed into a corner.

“Why do you run from me?” The Wight Knight sounds confused. “I just want to talk with you. I mean you no harm.”

The man looks for an exit, but with the river on one side and the horse on the other, he’s trapped. “Don’t give me that! I saw that witch in the woods lookin’ for you, so I did!”

Hinata starts forward, but Kageyama grabs his wrist. This could be useful.

“Real piece of work, red eyes blazin’ and all! Asked me if I’d seen her slave, the Wight Knight, so she did! And that’s you, I’d wager! You’re her slave, are ya not?”

The Wight Knight looks offended, insofar as he can with the helmet. “Do I look like the slave of a witch to you? How ridiculous.” He looks over and spots Hinata, still trying to inch forward, and his horse walks forward toward the party. “It’s…Shouyou, yes? What are you doing here?”

“We’ve been looking for Brigadoom,” Hinata says, tilting his head up to meet the Wight Knight’s gaze. “Trying to find out more about it. Princess Yui said we might find something here.”

“You didn’t need to go to that trouble on my account.” Kageyama sees Tsukishima about to open his mouth to explain that actually, they weren’t getting paid until he left, and steps on his foot. “…Did you find anything?”

“Sorta?” Hinata tilts his head. “Are you the Right Knight?”

“The…yes, that is what they called me back in Brigadoom. Where did you learn that?”

“There’s a song about you,” Nishinoya says, saving Hinata from the explanation. He stands tall as he can, scowling up at the knight astride his horse.

The Wight Knight nearly falls off his horse in surprise. “Surely not! There’s a song?”

Nishinoya nods, and the Wight Knight regains his seat. “This is…all very odd. I surely cannot be a simple figment of a storyteller’s imagination?”

Yamaguchi speaks up next. “There was a line in the song…‘Bird, north, Brigadoomward on’. It was the only clue we could find in it.”

The Wight Knight turns his horse back toward the town entrance. “Then I suppose there’s nothing for it but to follow the bird’s example. Northward ho!”

And just like that, he gallops back out, leaving Hinata and the rest of the group to stare after him.

“…We gotta go too,” Hinata says, once the Wight Knight is gone. “Just to make sure he gets back okay.”

“I’m kinda curious, actually,” Tanaka says.

“Me too.” Nishinoya grins. “I mean, it’s a hidden empire!”

So they set off, stopping to drink water and hurriedly eat the lunches Suga packed for them. They can’t keep up with a horse at a full gallop, but they do their best, and eventually Asahi notices that the horse has slowed into a trot.

“How can you— _huff—_ tell?” Hinata asks, bending over to catch his breath.

“The pattern’s different.” Asahi points. “See, the stride pattern is diagonal pairs? That’s a slower gait.”

“Oh.” Hinata’s head tilts sideways. “Anyway, let’s keep going!”

So they do, on and up. Sometimes the Wight Knight’s horse’s footprints cross their path, and sometimes, there are little fragments of a long-abandoned road left. It’s a short trip to what looks like a wasteland, and Hinata throws his arm out to stop them. “Careful!”

“What’s—oh.” Kageyama recognizes the purple liquid in front of them from the Hexagon. Someone, long ago, carved steps into the otherwise-difficult ledge, but they end in a pool of the poisoned stuff.

“It hurts,” Hinata explains to the rest of the (confused) party. “I ran into it once. We can’t go that way.”

“Brigadoom’s that way,” Nishinoya says, and stretches over his head. “We’ll jump.”

“Noya-san…” Hinata starts, right before Nishinoya backs up, puts his head down, and races straight for the steps. He leaps straight over it and lands light as a feather on the steps, grinning at them.

“See? Easy!”

Hinata frowns. “We should try to find a way around…”

“We don’t have time.” Asahi frowns down at Hinata. “You said he was a spirit. You should be there to make sure he passes on properly, right?”

“Right.” Hinata sets his jaw. “Okay, let’s do this. Um…tall people first, I guess, you guys’ll have the easiest time making it over. Asahi-san, can you go first?”

Asahi looks sort of like he might throw up when he lines himself up for the jump, but he nods.

“You can do it, Asahi-san!” Nishinoya calls, perched at the top of the steps.

Asahi takes a deep breath and leaps for it. He lands harder than Nishinoya, stumbling, but Nishinoya grabs his arm and steadies him.

“I’ll go next.” Tsukishima eyes the pool, backs up, and runs. He doesn’t leap as high or fast as Asahi and Nishinoya, barely making it over, but he _does_ land on the lowest step.

“You next,” Hinata says, nudging Kageyama.

He makes it over, because of course he does, and surveys the remaining little group. “Tanaka-san!”

“Shit yeah,” Tanaka calls. He leaps over it with a wild yell and high-fives Nishinoya when he lands and climbs up the remaining steps.

Yamaguchi goes next, jumping over with surprising grace, and then it’s just Hinata.

Hinata, surprisingly, doesn’t look too thrilled about jumping, even though he’s faster than the rest of them. He bites his lip, steps back farther than really necessary, inhales, and runs forward with his eyes screwed shut.

“Open your eyes, you idiot!” Kageyama yells, but Hinata just keeps running forward. He’s so damned fast.

He jumps, legs bending and flexing, shooting entirely too high into the air, and Kageyama sees a bright grin on his face as he flattens out at the jump’s peak. He looks delighted to be in the air, and Kageyama watches him hang for longer than he should be able to.

And then, of course, he lands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My laptop got stuck updating and was GONE for an ENTIRE WEEK. D: It's been killing me. All my programs are gone, but I still have my files! I was seriously concerned that I would lose them. I'm working on backing them up, but in the meantime, have this little half-a-chapter!
> 
> Also, leave me a comment if you enjoyed it? Please? I feel like no one's reading this. I know the Haikyuu!! fandom's pretty dead right now while we're between seasons, but it's pretty discouraging not to get feedback. Pretty please I'll love you forever.


	4. Act 1: Stornway (3/3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to finish up Stornway!

For one glorious moment, Shouyou flies.

His eyes open, and he lets out a laugh. He hasn’t tried to jump properly since his fall, and this feels _so good._ Almost like it used to be.

He’s too busy savoring the wind in his face to notice when gravity takes back over, and lands on his hands and knees, scraping them up and whining at the sharp pain. He hears Tanaka asking if he’s all right, but he can’t help but curl into himself and remember _that night._

The stinging pain in his hands is nothing like the overwhelming hurt from his fall, but Shouyou still feels like he might pass out when he opens his eyes and sees blood welling up on his hand.

It’s not that he doesn’t know what it is—he’s seen blood before, obviously, but he’s also never seen it come out of _him_ before.

So really, he can hardly be blamed for the fact that his first impulse is to poke his tongue out and lick it.

“What are you _doing,_ dumbass?” Kageyama pulls his hand away from his mouth and scowls at him. “Don’t lick it! What are you, a cat?”

Shouyou blushes from the tips of his ears to his collarbone and yanks his hand away. “Shut up!” His leggings are torn up now, but he can feel the buzz of magic in them already setting to work. They’ll be fine, if he gives them some time to fix themselves. His hands still hurt, but now that he has something to focus on besides the fact that _he’s bleeding_ and _he hurts,_ he can manage. “Let’s just keep going.”

Kageyama looks like he wants to argue, but Shouyou draws his sword (ow) and runs off, leading the charge north, and they settle back into their rhythm. It’s not long before they reach a half-destroyed gate, and Shouyou draws in a breath.

Lightning crashes in the sky, covered in clouds that seem to be anchored above the destroyed city. A gate to the city remains intact, standing tall with a coat of arms, but the wall around it is gone, only a little arch of stone holding the iron up. The outlines of something that must have once been a castle lie scattered around, punctuated by more purple poison. The Wight Knight sits on his horse in front of the gate, holding perfectly still.

“No!” The Wight Knight breaks the silence. “This can’t be Brigadoom.” He looks at Hinata for confirmation. “I don’t understand. How can I have been away so long that it’s fallen into such disrepair?”

“I’m sorry,” Shouyou says, softly.

“And where is my beloved Yue?” The Knight’s voice breaks, and he nudges his horse forward. “Princess Yue! Yue!!”

His horse gallops forward, into the bleak ruin, and leaves them standing at the gate.

“He’s still in denial,” Shouyou says, shaking his head. “We’ve gotta go after him.”

“Why?” Tsukishima asks. “We got him to Brigadoom. Can’t he figure the rest out for himself?”

Shouyou rounds on Tsukishima, eyes blazing. “This is my _job._ We can’t leave him like this, wandering around a dead city and never realizing he’s dead! We _have_ to help him move on.”

“Maybe you do,” Tsukishima says, shaking his head.

“We don’t get paid until we can confirm that he’s gone,” Tanaka points out. “Hinata’s right, we have to help.”

“We should look for Yue’s grave,” Shouyou says. “If we can show him that…it might be enough to let him pass on properly.” Not that he’s ever dealt with a spirit that plain _refused_ to pass on before, but…it’s always just a question of figuring out what holds them back. Probably. That’s what Shouri said before.

“You weren’t under my protection,” Shouyou whispers, “but I’ll save you anyway.” He doesn’t see a Guardian statue anywhere, and wonders briefly if Brigadoom ever had one. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shouyou?” Nishinoya asks.

“Let’s go,” Shouyou says, turning and grinning at them. “This’ll be easy, and we’ll be back at Karasuno by sunset! You’ll see!”

At sunset, he thinks that he probably shouldn’t have given himself a time limit. Everyone’s tired, and the most they’ve found is an old painting of a black-armored knight and a few old mushrooms. There are monsters _everywhere,_ and the constant battles aren’t helping anyone’s mood.

“We need to go back soon,” Yamaguchi says quietly. “Everyone’s worn out, Hinata.”

“Not yet!” He can’t just _leave._ “You guys can go back if you want, but I’m not going anywhere until I help him.” There’s another set of stairs, leading down once more, in front of them, and Shouyou sees a footprint too heavyset to belong to any of them (except possibly Asahi) in the dust. “Look, what if he’s right down there?”

“This is important to you, isn’t it?” Asahi asks, frowning at him.

 _“Yes,”_ Shouyou says, exasperated. It’s his _job,_ of course it’s important. “Can we just…look down here? And maybe find somewhere to sleep if he isn’t here so we can keep looking tomorrow?” He feels fatigue dragging at his limbs too, but he seems to be better at ignoring it than everyone else (sleep is the worst, he hates it, it’s just a huge drain of time and another reminder of how _useless_ he is).

So they go, reluctantly, down that last flight of stairs, and Shouyou freezes. He hears a voice, and it’s not the Wight Knight’s.

“Ka ha ha!” That sounds so much like an imitation of Suga’s mock-evil laugh, the one he used to use when he played with Kageyama and Ennoshita, that Shouyou smiles. He catches Kageyama’s eyes going soft, too. “Welcome home, love! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Weren’t hiding from me, were ya, you naughty boy?”

 _Love?_ Is that Princess Yue? Her voice is harsh, and the accent is a little different, but Shouyou hopes anyway.

“…Morag!” _Who?_ Shouyou thinks, tilting his head. “Now I understand…now I remember.”

Shouyou perks up at that. Is he going to pass on properly now?

The Knight starts talking about how he left Brigadoom to destroy ‘Morag’, and Morag laughs at him. Shouyou flinches when she mentions a ‘world of darkness’ they’d apparently had all to themselves (just how powerful _is_ this new person?), and when he hears the Knight shout “Where is my Yue?” and hears a scream an instant later, he decides it’s time to intervene.

“Go,” he hisses at the party, shoving the door open in time to hear Morag continue her monologue. Shouyou doesn’t quite get what’s going on, but the Wight Knight is trapped by some magic that makes his nose wrinkle to look at, and he’s _pretty_ sure the Wight Knight doesn’t actually want to go with Morag again. He has to make him pass on, not go back to Morag’s little world.

“Let him go!” Shouyou shouts, standing protectively in front of the Wight Knight.

“Oh?” Morag is a demon, Shouyou realizes, and he’s suddenly _very_ glad he looks mortal right now. “And who might you be? Not here to steal my beloved Wight Knight away from me, _are_ ye?”

Shouyou draws his sword in answer.

“Hah!” Morag seems amused. _And why wouldn’t she be? She’s a demon, and we’re just a bunch of humans._ “Foolish boy. Can ye not feel the curse I’ve put on my poor wee darlin’? It’s dead powerful. Don’t worry that pretty fluffy head of yers too much if ye can’t, though—you’ll find out soon enough for yourself.”

Some kind of purple beam (achingly familiar, _don’t think about that_ ) shoots out of Morag’s eyes and toward Shouyou.

“Stay back!” Shouyou shouts. He drops his sword and crosses his arms over his head, blocking the beam. _I don’t care if I’m mortal right now! I can handle a stupid demon’s curse!_

It covers him, just for an instant, and Shouyou hears the distant, alarmed shouts of his teammates. He shakes it off like a dog stepping out of water and barely hears Morag’s disbelief over the ringing in his ears. Add that to the list of things that are supposed to be _easy._

“What exactly are ye?” Morag asks. “If ye were mortal, my curse couldn’t have failed…wait, ye aren’t…ye aren’t one of them, are ya?”

“Doesn’t matter what I am,” Shouyou says, picking his sword back up. “I’m not letting you leave with the Wight Knight.”

Morag sighs. “Why couldn’t you just leave us in peace…?”

And that’s as far as she gets before a small blur of motion whizzes past Shouyou and hits Morag squarely in the jaw.

“Are we going to fight or just talk all day?” Nishinoya asks, dancing backward to rejoin the team.

Morag’s eyes flash, and just like that, they’re all rushing her. It’s a confused mess at first—without the horse and the spear that the Wight Knight had had, nothing encourages them to keep their distance, and they’re all much too close to each other.

“Back up!” Shouyou shouts, elbowing Kageyama, but they’re all already figuring it out. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima shuffle backward where they can cast without interference, Nishinoya and Asahi are trying to coordinate their attacks, and Tanaka leaps behind Morag and gets in a clean hit to distract her while everyone else gets positioned. They end up in a kind of fanned-out triangle with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi at the rear.

Morag at least doesn’t have a lance like the Wight Knight, and doesn’t have a horse to worry about, but she moves _fast,_ and has access to fear-based magic they have to smack each other out of, and a love charm on top of that.

“Noya, snap out of it!” Tanaka backhands Nishinoya, who has actual hearts in his eyes staring at Morag, and he jumps and looks at Tanaka.

“Ryuu…”

“I know she’s hot, but _dude,_ time and a place!” Tanaka dodges an ice spell.

“It’s a charm!” Shouyou yells. “Don’t look into her eyes!”

“What, are you a demon expert now too?” Kageyama asks.

“I’ve never fought one!” He remembers Shouri’s lectures well enough. He thinks. Theory was never his strong point, but you just stab them and watch out for their magic, right? “Just…I dunno, just kick her butt!”

He’s sure he hears a sigh from Tsukishima’s direction, but he ignores it in favor of trying to land another hit.

“Break the magic binding her to this plane,” Tsukishima calls. “If we weaken her enough, she might be forced to retreat.”

“Can’t we kill her?” Nishinoya shouts.

“No, and don’t die trying.” Tsukishima fires off a spell.

“Someone help Yamaguchi!” Asahi’s guarding the frozen priest. “That fear thrall got him,” he adds to Shouyou as he breaks free of the main fight.

Shouyou frowns. He doesn’t have any healing spells that can help… _but I’m still enough to do this, right?_

He taps Yamaguchi’s forehead and whispers a blessing, fast and quiet, and droops as

 Yamaguchi starts and looks around wildly. He _felt_ the pull on his power.

 _Why didn’t you show me that?_ Koutarou asks. _Where’d you learn it, anyway?_

 _Wasn’t sure I could do it,_ Shouyou responds, and draws his sword again before Koutarou can ask any more questions.

Morag falls to her knees, and Shouyou cautiously retreats. _Go home. Both of you, please._

“No…” Morag sounds quieter, less sure of herself. “Our eternal world together…no more…”

“He isn’t yours,” Shouyou says.

“My love…ye must know that ye cannot turn back the centuries.” Morag shifts, purple hair falling over her shoulders. “Your beloved Yue is no more…”

The Knight, behind Shouyou, bows his head. Morag’s still speaking, laughing about eternal despair, and then she melts into a puff of black magic. It leaves a bad taste on Shouyou’s tongue, as close as he is, and he makes a face.

“She’s gone,” he says, and turns back to the Wight Knight, who’s fallen to his knees.

“Princess Yue!” The Wight Knight seems grief-stricken. “It can’t be true…”

“I’m so sorry,” Shouyou says, bowing his head in return. Koutarou comes out, next to him.

“With your help, I finally returned to Brigadoom, and yet…”

Shouyou knows a little about being ripped from his home, exiled from it, but… _but I’m going to go home. I have to get back home. And even if it’s three hundred years from now, I’ll find them again._

His homeland won’t decay. His friends, his family, will still be there to welcome him.

Shouyou wonders if that’s a good or bad thing, considering how much of his time he spends convincing ghosts to move on lately. _Can we move on?_ He’s never asked before. Can they change? Can any of them grow?

The Wight Knight’s murmuring about his Yue, and Shouyou catches “…too late” at the end.

“You are not too late.”

Shouyou looks up at the same instant the Wight Knight turns around, and there stands…Yui.

Yui, wearing an ancient golden necklace. Yui, with a crown atop her short brown hair, in a heavy, old-fashioned dress and smiling. She walks over to them, and the Wight Knight sputters.

“Princess Yue! I don’t…Aren’t you…”

Yui shakes her head. “I promised, didn’t I? I swore to wait for you, no matter how long it took.”

Is this really Yue? She doesn’t feel like a ghost to Shouyou.

Yue bends down and offers a hand to the Wight Knight. “My beloved Right Knight…take my hand and dance with me! The first dance we would have had as man and wife…”

The Wight Knight stands. “Princess Yue. You…you forgive me?”

Yue tilts her head, in a gesture Shouyou takes to mean _what a stupid question,_ and the Wight Knight takes her hand. They dance together around the room, and Shouyou doesn’t know a thing about courtroom dancing, but they look good together, twirling like they were born to it.

And, wonder of wonders, Shouyou sees the bonds of the Wight Knight to the mortal realm vanishing, turning into greenish ribbons around him as he and Yue stop dancing. He rises into the air, and Shouyou crosses his fingers. _Please go home._

“Thank you, Princess.” The Knight bows his head. “I know, now, that you are not my Yue. But…without you, I might have wandered forever in eternal despair.”

 _What about me?_ Shouyou thinks. He had something to do with all this.

“I knew you were the Right Knight from the old stories,” Yui says, smiling up at him. “I felt a connection between us the moment I saw you.”

“It is not so unbelievable, that you who inherited my beloved Yue’s memories would feel so.” Yui’s jaw drops at that, and _ohhh,_ Shouyou thinks, that’s why she knows how to dance in a style three hundred years old.

The Wight Knight turns to Shouyou and Koutarou. “Thank you. Without you, I never would have uncovered the truth. Now I have no regrets. Only gratitude.”

Shouyou bows deeply from his waist. “Pass on peacefully, lost soul, and may you find shelter in the Almighty’s arms.”

The Wight Knight inclines his head once more and vanishes in a flash.

Shouyou turns to Yui, but she opens her mouth before he can. “I know you said to leave it all up to you, but I couldn’t just stand by! I couldn’t help myself, I had to come along!” She pauses, scratching under the crown on her head. “Oof, this is so _heavy._ It’s funny…when I was dancing with him, I heard a voice. A woman’s voice, saying ‘thank-you’.”

 _She was so determined to see him again that she reincarnated,_ Shouyou thinks. Mortals love so passionately—not that his home doesn’t love, but they’re slow about it, and they tend to hide it. Affectionate gestures have always been discouraged.

Which isn’t to say that Shouyou hasn’t wondered what it would be like to fall asleep in someone’s arms, or kiss someone, or hold hands, isn’t to say that he doesn’t want _desperately_ to be held close to someone’s heart, isn’t to say that the way he’s seen gentle touches pass between friends and partners doesn’t make him envious sometimes.

(Protect, always. His job is to protect mortals. Anything else is secondary, even when his stomach twists in the same envy disguised as disgust he sees in his elders.)

“I’ll go ahead back to the castle while you recover,” Yui says, smiling. “Don’t worry, I brought a horse! Can you make it back, or should I send guards for you?”

“We can make it!” Shouyou yelps, turning bright red. _I can’t get distracted._ “I’ve got a chimera wing, it’ll be fine! Thank you very much!”

Yui laughs. “Stop by the castle as soon as you can, okay?” She runs out the door, yanking off her overdress as she leaves and leaving her in pants and a t-shirt.

“So I guess that’s that, then?” Yamaguchi asks, tilting his head. “Do, um, did that light show mean the Wight Knight passed on?”

Shouyou nods. “He’s gone. Now we just gotta get back to Stornway!”

“I’ve got our bell,” Tanaka says, and that’s all the warning they get before bells jingle and they find themselves at the entrance to Brigadoom.

“Let’s get the hell out of here, it’s fuckin’ depressing.”

“Scared, Nishinoya-san?”

“Fuck off, Tsukishima.”

Shouyou laughs. He likes these people. _I’m going to miss them._

_But I have to go home._

He flings a chimera wing and shoos everyone inside the gates of Stornway, and then to Karasuno. Suga greets them with an exhausted hug and a “Where have you been all day?”

“Everything’s fine,” Kageyama manages when Suga crushes him in a hug. “We did what we needed to do, can we—Suga, I can’t breathe.”

“Sorry.” Suga doesn’t sound very sorry, but he at least releases Kageyama. “Go to bed, we’ll talk in the morning. There’s food in your room if you want it.”

Everyone murmurs thanks and piles into the elevator. No one seems to care enough to shower, barely pausing to strip off armor and flop onto the nearest futon.

Shouyou’s the last to go to bed. He checks them over, out of habit, just to make sure no one’s hiding an injury.

He can’t do his real job right now, but at least he can guard them.

 _Go to sleep,_ Koutarou tells him. _We’re gonna fly the Starflight tomorrow!_

Shouyou closes his eyes. _Home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -slides in two months late with Starbucks- hey  
> College is still a thing and writer's block has been hitting me hard, but I really want to keep working on this! I'll finish it one day!  
> Next up: -looks at the tags and shuffles away- Please don't murder me. (And if anyone's played this game, please don't spoil in the comments!)


	5. Act 1: Coffinwell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not quite that easy.

Kageyama wakes up to a nearly empty room.

Hinata is curled in his futon, snoring softly and by all appearances asleep, but the rest of the beds are empty.

The sun is up, barely, soft light filtering in through the window, but if the sun is up Hinata should be up. Kageyama’s noticed how much he hates sleeping, protests it even when he’s exhausted and fights it off as long as he can until it overwhelms him and he has to be half-carried to his futon. Fuck, should he be more worried that everyone else is awake or that Hinata isn’t?

He slides out of his sheets, careful not to wake up their sleeping…whatever Hinata is. Leader? Teammate? Friend?

Kageyama, contrary to popular belief back in Angel Falls, is not a complete idiot. He heard the demon’s reaction to Hinata shaking off her curse, and he saw him take a fear thrall from Yamaguchi—who is a _priest_ and should, in theory, be the least susceptible to demonic magic. And that’s not counting the weird, formal way he speaks sometimes and the fact that he _talks to invisible faeries._

He wants answers. He’s wanted answers since the night of the earthquake, but his questions keep piling up, and it’s so damn _frustrating_ the way Hinata dodges everything.

Hinata stirs and blinks his eyes open with a sleepy little murmur, frowning when he sees Kageyama. “Where’s everyone else?”

Kageyama shrugs. Hinata sits up, shaking his head like a wet dog. His hair fluffs up into its usual ridiculous mess. “We should find them.” He still looks a little bleary, but he stands up anyway.

How the _fuck_ does that stupid suit he wears still look clean and perfect and like he didn’t just sleep in it.

“Hey, dumbass Hinata.” Hinata squawks and glares at him. “What the fuck _are_ you.”

“Vulgar!” Hinata smacks him. “What do you _mean_ what am I?”

“I mean, you’re weird and fucking nothing about you makes any goddamn _sense.”_ Kageyama gestures at him. “You won’t say where home is, you go off on weird quests, and you shake off demon curses like they’re a spiderweb or some shit.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Hinata gets right up into his face, glaring now. “It’s none of your _business_ what I am! I just want to go home!”

“The hell it isn’t!” Kageyama shouts back. “You made it my business when you crashed half-dead into Angel Falls!”

Hinata flinches back.

“Are you human?” Kageyama asks, getting to his point.

Hinata sighs in defeat. “No. Well, yes, mostly, right now, I think, but usually not at all…it’s _really_ complicated.”

Not usually.

He’s _not usually_ human.

“Just…look, I just want to go home.” Hinata looks up from fidgeting with his shirt. “I promise I’ll never ever bother you again, I’ll never crash into your waterfall again, I just want to go _home.”_

“I don’t understand you at all,” Kageyama says flatly. “I hate things I don’t understand. What are you, a faerie? Some kind of weird demon?”

“I’m mortal right now. Isn’t that what matters?” Hinata tilts his head. “And no, stupid Kageyama, I’m not a demon! I can’t _say,_ I’m not supposed to…”

Kageyama’s on the verge of lifting him by his collar and _making_ him explain when the door opens and Sugawara enters. “Your team’s downstairs,” he says, absolutely ignoring the tension on purpose to force it into dissipating. “I came up to make sure my two slugabeds hadn’t died overnight. You dealt with a _demon?”_

“A minor one,” Hinata offers. “Um, I think.”

“You battled a _minor_ demon,” Sugawara repeats, looking very much like a man in over his head. “All right, _minor-_ demon slayers, come wash up and get breakfast. No team under my roof is going to the King of Stornway stinking of sweat.”

Hinata snorts and uses the opportunity to dash out the door, away from Kageyama.

“Leave him be,” Suga says quietly, pausing at the doorframe. “He’ll talk about it when he’s ready, remember?”

“He told me he’s _not mortal,_ Koushi, what the _fuck_ does that mean.”

“I’m not strictly mortal either,” Suga points out. “Not since I drank that water as a child. And we knew there was something strange about him, didn’t we?”

Suga had given him the short version of his discovery, and since then has been throwing himself into research on the properties of Angel Falls water (the scrolls and books left behind by his father help), but this is the first Kageyama’s heard of _not strictly mortal._

“So leave him be.” Suga grins. “You’re going to find a lot of strange people out here, and you can’t slam them all into the wall and demand to know their life stories.”

“Why fucking not.”

“Because some of them are going to be taller than you!” Suga’s grin widens. “Like Tsukishima. Now come eat breakfast with everyone else and _stop_ trying to threaten people into opening up to you.”

Kageyama sighs and admits defeat to himself.

For now.

Downstairs, everyone’s dressed back in everyday clothes, clean, and devouring breakfast. Hinata’s missing (presumably cleaning up).

“There he is!” Nishinoya leaps up and thumps Kageyama on the back. He’s stronger than he looks, and Kageyama nearly chokes on a breath.

“Noya,” Asahi says, giving him a vaguely disappointed look.

“Whoops.” Nishinoya squints at him to make sure he’s not dead before bounding back to his seat. Hinata picks that moment to come downstairs, all scrubbed with his hair slightly less fluffy than usual, and immediately dives for the food.

Kageyama rolls his eyes and goes looking for an unoccupied bath.

 

One bath, breakfast, and scramble for clean outfits (except for Hinata and his magic self-cleaning suit) later, everyone’s ready to go to the castle. Suga and Daichi wave them off with a smile (and a threat from Suga to not just _vanish_ and come back at midnight again).

Hinata bows to the guards. “I’m here to see King Michimiya.”

“What business…” The other guard elbows him and whispers something. “Ah, Yui-sama told us to expect you. Please, come in.”

Kageyama is nearly sure that Yui would tell them not to call her _-sama._

Hinata leads the way inside and bounds up the stairs, leaving the rest of the _mortals_ whose muscles actually get tired and _sore_ the next day to follow behind.

King Michimiya spots them as soon as they walk in. “Hinata! Good to see you, lad! Yui’s told me everything—sounds like that Wight Knight was having a tough old time of it. I feel a wee bit guilty, in hindsight.”

Yui mimes a _sorry_ from beside the King, and Kageyama notices Hinata barely stifle a laugh.

“Still, all’s well as ends well. You did your job well. I’m impressed, lad…aye, and you more than deserve that reward I promised!”

Hinata could not look less interested in the reward if he _tried._

“I’ll have them open up one of the treasure chambers, so you just help yourself! Take it all, if you want to!”

Yamaguchi’s jaw nearly hits the floor before Tsukishima reaches over and closes it for him.

“Just climb the stairs behind the throne, there, and go outside. East a bit, and you’ll see the treasure chamber!”

Suga is going to absolutely _flip._

“Ah, and I nearly forgot! I’ve opened up the eastern checkpoint again—we closed it while all that nonsense with the knight was going on. There’s a big town past the checkpoint that you might want to visit on your travels.”

Hinata opens his mouth to say something when King Michimiya looks to his wife, then to Yui, apparently for help. Yui just grins and bows from the waist to them.

“Aye, well…safe journey to you all. And do stop in Stornway again sometime! You’ll always be welcome here, Hinata.”

“Thank you very much, sir,” Hinata says, bowing. He looks behind him and blinks at everyone’s stunned faces. “…What?”

Kageyama grabs their fearless leader by the scruff of his neck and drags him upstairs and away from the throne room. _“He offered you an entire room of treasure do you understand what that means.”_

“I don’t _want_ a treasury, I want to go home,” Hinata retorts. “You guys can have whatever’s in there.”

“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Nishinoya says, before dashing off. “Let’s go!”

Kageyama brings Hinata anyway, watches in stunned silence while the team (guided mostly by Asahi and, surprisingly, Tsukishima) tries to divide up their payment.

It’s not a fortune, but it’s a respectable amount when all’s said and done.

“Won’t have to worry about food for a while after this,” Yamaguchi says, offering Hinata a bright smile along with a little tied-up bundle of cloth containing Hinata’s share. “And this should be enough to get you home, right?”

“Money can’t get me home,” Hinata says, tracing the outline of the bundle. “…Bokuto-san, wait until we’re done with this, okay?”

Kageyama sort of wants to meet this Bokuto-san, the mysterious faerie that for some reason follows _Hinata_ of all people around, another layer of inexplicable, indecipherable something-or-other around their not-quite-mortal leader.

Hinata winces when they leave the castle, purses full. “Ow, fine! Sorry, guys, give me a second.”

No one’s acknowledging that they could all just leave, if they wanted. They did their job. None of them are bound to this team anymore.

Hinata sits down, tilts his head. “…Is there?” he asks, sounding genuinely confused (seeing him talk to thin air is still strange). He nods, after a moment. “You’re right! No way he didn’t notice.”

“Who didn’t notice what?” Tsukishima asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Bokuto-san thinks that the people from my hometown noticed what we did here in Stornway,” Hinata explains. “So…that means I might have a way home!” The spark is back in his eyes. “I’m going to…”

“You’re leaving,” Kageyama finishes for him.

It tugs at him more than it should. He hasn’t known Hinata that long.

Hinata nods. “Say goodbye and thank you to Suga-san for me,” he adds to Kageyama, and then dashes off. Kageyama stares at his retreating back until he gets through the gate.

“And that’s that,” Tsukishima says with a shrug. “He’s going home, and we don’t have to babysit the little half-ghost anymore.”

“He’s not half-ghost, you idiot,” Kageyama snaps back.

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “Do you know what normally allows someone to see spirits?”

No, he doesn’t, but like hell he’s going to admit it.

“Possession,” Yamaguchi says quietly, and Tsukishima dips his head in agreement.

“No full mortal can do what he can,” Tsukishima adds. “At a minimum, he’s got a benign spirit inside him. At worst, he’s a demon disguised as a human child—and that seems like the most likely theory, considering his drive to go ‘home’ and the constant avoidance of where exactly home _is.”_

Kageyama remembers the way they’d had to teach him to eat and drink and do _everything_ human, the way he looked at his own blood in shock and horror and then _licked_ it…

_Are you human?_

_…yes, mostly, right now, I think, but usually not at all…_

Is the person he’s been talking to and befriending and calling a dumbass even the real Hinata Shouyou?

“Our obligation’s over,” Tsukishima says, “and frankly, we’re better off.”

Hell, his injuries were probably from escaping whatever summoned the _thing_ possessing the broken body Kageyama and Sugawara dragged out of Angel Falls.

Kageyama wants to go talk with Suga, _now,_ but then he remembers something that slipped out from Hinata when they’d barely met.

“Hey, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi.” Kageyama looks up, studying them both. “What’s a ‘Starflight’?”

 

Shouyou reaches the Starflight just as the sun starts to turn orange and sink behind the mountains. It looks the same to him, still white and lifeless and not at all like the beautiful blue-and-gold comet he’d seen before.

“Hang on a minute!!” Koutarou poofs in next to him. “The Starflight looks _exactly_ the same! I was sure the Almighty had noticed all our good work—it should be all glowing now.” He groans and drags a hand through his spiky hair. “Didn’t get the wrong end of the gearstick on this one, did I?”

His entire body, hair included, droops for a moment before perking back up. “Nah, of course I didn’t! What am I thinking? C’mon, I’m sure it’ll start up once we go inside.”

Shouyou sort of doubts that, but he hops up the stairs anyway, pulls the door open and lets Koutarou go ahead of him. Koutarou pouts as soon as he sees the inside, as dead and dark as last time. “I can’t _believe_ it! After we went to all that trouble…has the Almighty just turned a blind ear or what?”

Shouyou frowns and walks in. The car shakes under him, and he throws out an arm to steady himself. He’s _still_ not used to how his balance works now, and he falls over. “Ow!”

“What was that?” Koutarou flaps his way over, wings buzzing like a hummingbird and speaking twice as fast. “The whole thing moved when you came in just then…” He pauses and studies Shouyou for a second. “…hey hey hey, when you came in! That’s it, Shouyou!”

“…Huh?”

“I bet all that benevolessence you collected in Stornway’s boosting your, uh, Celestrian-y-ness!” Koutarou beams. “My first idea was right all along! The Starflight will fly if she has a Celestrian on board…and I’m still not totally convinced you’re a Celestrian, but she thinks you’re close enough.”

_Oh._

“So we gotta get you to help more people so you can get more powers back!” Koutarou looks pleased with this plan, gold eyes shining with excitement.

No amount of benevolessence is going to regrow Shouyou’s shorn wings , but…maybe, just maybe, if he can return to the Observatory, Shouri will know what to do.

“I know! Let’s go to that town past the checkpoint. I bet it’s packed with people who need our help!” Koutarou strikes a pose in the air. “Time for a mission of mortal mercy!”

That’s _always_ Shouyou’s mission, but he laughs anyway, and Koutarou beams, apparently proud of himself for successfully cheering Shouyou up.

It would make sense to head straight for the town past the eastern checkpoint, but Shouyou finds himself planning a way back to the steps of Stornway, back to Karasuno and Suga and his team…

…and back to Kageyama.

 _You’re not mortal,_ Shouyou reminds himself. _Not mortal, you can’t get attached, you’re not allowed._

Almighty help him, for better or for worse, he’s attached.

“It’s too late to go back tonight,” Shouyou says.

It’s not. If he starts now, he could make it back to Stornway by dusk.

Koutarou tilts his head and nods. “We’ll head back tomorrow!” He flutters over to a compartment Shouyou hadn’t even seen, digs out a huge, heavy blanket that looks like it could fit at least three of Koutarou under it, and adds an old pillow.

“Are these yours?” Shouyou asks, blinking. He’s never seen Koutarou sleep, but…

“Nah, they belong to the old guy!” Koutarou flaps an arm. “He’s gone right now, so he won’t miss ‘em, and being mortal means you get cold and stuff, right?”

It _is_ cold in the Starflight, so Shouyou takes the blanket. He burrows under it, welcoming the warmth even if he hates that he needs to sleep in the first place.

He clasps his hands together and looks up, not sure what to say. Prayer is mostly a mortal thing.

“Shouri-san,” he murmurs eventually, “I’m safe, but I can’t fly. I’m near Angel Falls, with the pilot of the Starflight Express. I thought you’d check here first…I hope everyone else is safe.” The thought of anyone else going through this makes his back hurt all over again. What if there was no Suga-san where they fell, no grumpy Kageyama to drag them out of the water and help Suga sponge blood off their backs?

…It hadn’t quite hit him how lucky he was to be alive at all.

Shouyou feels tears stinging at his eyes again, and although he’s not a stranger to crying anymore, it doesn’t mean he hates it any less. It’s so _messy_ and gross and _mortal._

“Uh, you’re…doin’ something. Sorry, I’m not around mortals much. Are your eyes supposed to do that?”

“Yeah!” Way too high-pitched. “Yeah, um, it’s fine!” He curls onto his side and wraps his arms around the pillow, covering his eyes, and feels Koutarou pull the blanket further up to cover him a moment later.

“Get some rest, kid,” Koutarou says, and Shouyou swears he hears a note of actual affection in the faerie’s voice. “We’ve got stuff to finish, so don’t go giving up on me!”

Shouyou wiggles as far under the blanket as he can (and notes absently _it smells like home_ ), shuts his eyes, and sniffles his way to sleep.

 

Koushi opens the door the next morning, when the team’s eating breakfast (he’d insisted on feeding them as thanks, even after hearing about the treasury reward). Hinata stands there, small and droopy and sporting red-rimmed eyes, and Koushi sweeps him in without another word.

“Welcome home,” Koushi says, as softly as he can so as not to alert Kageyama and the team. “Your family didn’t find you?”

“Mm-mm.” Shouyou shakes his head. “I’m gonna go to that town past the checkpoint.”

“Eat breakfast, first.” Koushi steers him to the little side room where his team is and goes to open the door before pausing. “…Actually, why don’t you let me talk to them before you go in? Stay out here, okay?”

Shouyou scowls, but he stays put, and Koushi nods and walks in, shutting the door firmly behind him. “Shouyou’s back.”

Tsukishima groans. “I spoke too soon.”

“Tsukki…”

“He told me he’s going to Coffinwell,” Koushi says, and looks around at all of them. “And I expect all of you to help him.”

“I’m not helping that possessed idiot.” Tsukishima shakes his head.

Koushi barely refrains from rolling his eyes. “Possessed he may be, but I’m telling you, I don’t think he means any of you harm.” He looks at Kageyama. “Do you remember that man at the inn I tried to turn away, and the mayor made me give him a room anyway?”

“The one that ran off with your savings,” Kageyama says, nodding.

“And Yamaguchi, you’re a priest,” Suga continues. “Do you sense any malice in him?”

Yamaguchi shakes his head. “That’s what bothers me…Tsukki’s right, he’s not human, but he’s not a demon either. And he mentioned the Starflight…”

“I can’t force you.” Suga looks around the table. “I don’t know what Hinata is, but I feel like we have to help him, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”

Tsukishima makes a face, but gives a begrudging nod.

“Tanaka? Noya? Asahi?” Suga asks.

“Long as there’s money, we’re good,” Tanaka says, flashing a thumbs-up.

The door opens of its own accord, and Hinata storms in before Suga has a chance. “You guys think I’m _possessed?”_

Suga groans, but Hinata’s already continuing. “I told you I can’t _tell_ you!” He seems to be directing this mostly at Kageyama. “But I’m not possessed, I’m just me!”

Tsukishima opens his mouth, and Nishinoya jabs him in the side so hard he coughs.

“I’m not a demon,” Hinata huffs at them. “I just wanna help people so I can go home!”

It’s the same explanation he always gives, but Koushi believes him. He’d refused to believe the possession theory in the first place, rolled his eyes and told them to go to sleep and save the conspiracies for the morning.

Because no one with a Guardian’s name who came to Koushi floating in the water that saved him as a child could possibly be a demon.

No one who can draw Tobio out of his shell, fight with him in blazing fury and not mean a word of it, could possibly be a demon.

No one who could bring Koushi to Daichi could possibly be a demon.

So Koushi trusts Hinata, trusts that he would tell them more if he could, trusts that he won’t bring his teammates to any harm.

“I’ll pack some food,” Koushi says. “Coffinwell’s not any farther than here to Angel Falls. You can make it, as long as you start soon.”

He leaves, shuts the door, and looks up at the sky he can’t see.

_Almighty, let me be right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's up i'm tired school's started and that means it's time for more hq writing because writing these nerds cheers me up! comments also give me life and fuel so if you happen to enjoy this you should tell me!  
> Next time: You guys are definitely going to kill me.


	6. Act 1: Coffinwell (2/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything's bad, guys.

Something’s off.

Kageyama remembers the merchant they’d met on the way’s hurried warning not to go to Coffinwell. Hinata had lit up with a happy _I bet we can help them!_

There’s the usual gate guard—Hinata bows and introduces himself as a traveler looking for work, and the guard shakes his head.

“Not to speak out of turn, but I’d keep away from this place if I were you.” He gestures at the city. “Coffinwell’s days are numbered, mark my words. Be on your way if you don’t want to perish with the rest of us.”

Hinata looks genuinely puzzled. “…Huh?”

The guy just shakes his head.

“Anyone else feel like this is gonna go badly?” Noya asks, climbing the steps up to the city. It seems to be carved out of a hill, the wall surrounding a little row of houses and buildings at the bottom. Otherwise, everything is built on the wall. The first thing Kageyama sees is a church with a graveyard, with a priest kneeling and praying over a fresh grave.

Hinata’s eyes widen. _“Oh.”_

There are _far_ too many fresh graves, grass not grown over, flower bouquets still brightly colored, gravestones not yet weathered down. Too many for a small town.

“Something’s killing them,” Hinata says, and looks to the Guardian statue. “Where _are_ they?”

“Assuming they exist, I guess they have better things to do.”

Hinata whirls around to stare at him. “What do you _mean,_ assuming they exist? Of course they do!”

“Have you ever seen one?” Kageyama retorts.

“I…” Hinata cuts himself off. “Yeah, I have, so there!”

“Sure.” Kageyama shakes his head. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know.” Hinata shakes his head. “I haven’t seen any of them since Angel Falls…” His eyes shine, and Kageyama realizes that this is one of those things that triggers memories of home.

There’s no friendly Suga here, no brightly-lit Karasuno Inn welcoming them home at the end of their battle, and Kageyama slowly starts to realize how absolutely fucked they are. Some mysterious _something_ is killing people here, and they have no idea what it is or how to protect themselves. This isn’t like Stornway, still ready to fight for their Princess.

This city is already in mourning.

Hinata locks eyes with him, and he knows Hinata’s put it together too. “We should find the King, or the mayor, or whatever. Maybe he knows more about this.” Suga isn’t here to suggest it, but maybe…

Hinata’s eyes narrow, and he nods. “Right, let’s go.”

It’s not hard to find the biggest, most ornate house in town. Tsukishima rolls his eyes when he sees it, and Kageyama catches him glancing at Yamaguchi ever-so-briefly.

They walk in, and a woman in a maid’s outfit catches them. “If you’re here to see the master, you’ll find him in the library upstairs.”

Tsukishima looks almost interested at the mention of a library.

“This house has long been the most distinguished in Coffinwell, so there are many old manuscripts and the like…that’s what brought Takeda to Coffinwell, in fact!”

“Takeda?” Hinata asks.

“He’s our resident researcher! The master was happy to accommodate him at first, but then all that business with Keishin happened, and…” She shakes her head. “I really shouldn’t gossip like this.”

“Thanks for your time!” Hinata chirps, and runs for the stairs. Kageyama races after him, elbowing him out of the way to get up first.

The library turns out to be on the opposite side of the house’s second story. It’s small, warmly lit, with a man in the center muttering while he reads.

“So that’s…no, it’s no use, I’ll have to rely on his help after all…I don’t have a choice, I can’t just sit by while more people suffer needlessly.”

Nishinoya clears his throat, and the man jumps. “Oh! Beg your pardon, I didn’t know I had guests! I’m Mayor Laria. Can I help you with something?”

Hinata bows deeply. “My name is Hinata Shouyou, sir, and we’re here to help Coffinwell.”

“Oh! Concerned about what’s going on here, are you? Well, I’ll tell you what I know.” He stands up from his chair. “I’m sure you’re already aware that Coffinwell has been hit by a contagious disease.”

Hinata’s eyes go wide in an instant. Nishinoya swears under his breath.

 _We can’t fight a plague, you idiot._ He should have known, the graves and the warnings and the silence should have _warned them,_ they need to get out of here _now._

“The fact is, the same disease hit the town a century ago. I started looking through these old manuscripts for a solution, but I’m afraid I barely understood a word. I won’t be beaten, though!” He balls one hand into a fist. “I passed them on to Takeda in the hopes he might be able to make some sense of them…but I’m afraid I’m rather loath to go see if he’s turned anything up.” He stops, and his face brightens. “You care about what’s going on here, don’t you? In that case…would you mind popping by Takeda’s place to see how he’s getting on? His house is just west of my mansion. Sorry to trouble you, but we’d truly appreciate the help.”

Hinata stutters out a _sure,_ and the party backs up and out of the library.

“Hinata, we have to _leave,”_ Kageyama says, as soon as they’re out of the Mayor’s earshot.

“I can’t leave them,” Hinata says, shaking his head. “They need help.”

“They’ve got Takeda, you heard the mayor!” Tanaka says. “Let them sort out their own shit, we have to get out of here before we catch this shit.”

Hinata flinches at _shit_ and then shakes his head. “…It’s too late for that, right?”

Tsukishima looks like he’s swallowed a lemon, but he nods.

“What?” Kageyama demands.

“We’re probably already carrying Coffinwell germs,” Tsukishima says. “If we leave, for any reason…”

“…we’ll spread the plague to other cities,” Hinata finishes. “We have to stay here, or we’ll make everything worse, and we have to find a cure.”

Or they’re all going to die, but the look on Hinata’s face tells Kageyama that he knows that already.

“So let’s go,” Hinata says. “We’ll find Takeda, and get him to talk to the mayor.” With that, he walks toward the much-smaller house to the west of the mansion, knocks, and goes inside, Kageyama and the group close on his heels.

There’s only one room in the house, and one man, a tall guy with messy blond hair sprawled out on the bed. Hinata tentatively goes over to him. “Excuse the intrusion…”

The man startles awake and sits up. “Who are you? Damn it, must have dozed off again.” He frowns. “I’m doin’ that too much lately…anyway, you travelers looking for Ittetsu?”

“Ittetsu?” Hinata asks, tilting his head.

“My husband, Takeda,” the man amends. “He’s in his laboratory, at work. What do you bunch need from him?”

“The Mayor wanted us to ask how he was doing with his research,” Yamaguchi offers.

“Seriously? Dad asked you—” The man sighs. “Guess I’ll come with you, then, if you’re set on it. He won’t let you into the laboratory without me. I’m Keishin, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Hinata says with another little bow.

“Sure, kid.” Keishin gets up with a yawn. “Come on, follow me.”

Hinata follows, and the team joins him. Keishin takes them down into the inner part of the city, muttering to himself.

“I can’t _believe_ Dad, sending a perfect stranger to talk to Ittetsu…” He coughs into his sleeve, then knocks on the door. “Ittetsu, you’ve got visitors! They’re from Dad, wanting to know how you’re getting along with the old manuscripts.”

Kageyama hears an annoyed-sounding mutter, and then “Send them in, Keishin.”

Keishin unlocks the door and walks in, not bothering to hold it open for them. Hinata sighs and follows him. “Guess we can’t really blame him…”

“I can,” Tanaka says.

“Shut up,” Hinata whispers.

Keishin stands in the middle of the room, looking over the shoulder of a messy-haired man with glasses perched on his nose. He’s looking down at his desk, scowling at a book, but he looks up when he hears the door again. “Ah! Please come in…I apologize for the mess, I’ve a lot to get done, but I suppose a message from Father-in-law had better come first…” He stands up and steadies his glasses on his nose. “How can I…ah, that’s right, Keishin said you were here about the manuscripts!”

“Introduce yourself properly,” Keishin admonishes, lightly smacking the other man’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry!” The man adjusts his glasses again. “My name is Ittetsu Takeda, archeologist by trade. Pleased to meet you.”

“Hinata Shouyou,” Hinata says, bowing. He’s gotten better at saying that, Kageyama notices, almost like he never stumbled over it at all.

“I’ll do my best to remember your name, but I’m afraid quite a bit competes for my attention, so I don’t guarantee it.” Takeda smiles. “Regardless, I do think I’ve found a clue in the old manuscripts!” His eyes shine with excitement. “About a hundred years ago, some old ruins were discovered to the west of the town. The people who discovered them went inside, of course, not realizing that a terrible contagion lay waiting inside.” He stops to breathe. Kageyama gets the distinct impression that they could walk out, and he wouldn’t notice a difference. “I believe this contagion lies behind our current epidemic.”

“I should have guessed,” Hinata mutters, sounding vaguely annoyed. Kageyama gives him what’s rapidly becoming a patented _what the fuck are you talking about, Hinata_ look.

“It’s really more accurate to call it a curse,” Takeda continues. “The townspeople broke the curse by sealing the contagion away and blocking the entrance to the ruins.”

“Well, how’d it get out, then, Ittetsu?” Keishin breaks in.

Takeda turns to Keishin. “I suspect the recent earthquake damaged the seal keeping it contained.”

“So let’s just go to the shrine and seal it away again!” Keishin says.

“It’s not quite that simple,” Takeda says, laughing. “I’m probably the only one who could do it. It’s described very precisely in the old manuscripts, fortunately.”

Keishin coughs into his sleeve. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go do it!”

Takeda looks sheepish. “Well…the only problem is, monster activity there is quite heavy, and I don’t want to get hurt…” He turns to Hinata. “Do you ever act as a bodyguard, Hinata-san?”

“Um…” Hinata says, at exactly the same moment Nishinoya says “All the time.”

“We couldn’t pay you, but you might go ask Dad if he will,” Keishin says, gruff as usual. “Don’t expect you to work for nothing. Hurry up!”

 _“Keishin,”_ Takeda says, but Hinata nods and bows and hustles his party out of Takeda’s little study with a promise to be back as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sup, been a minute. Writing is very hard, and naturally when I get my mojo back it's at eleven pm when I have work at six the next day, but HERE, HAVE A CHAPTER. Please leave a comment if you can!  
> Next time: More sads. The entire fic is not this sad, I swear, Coffinwell is just a really bad time.

**Author's Note:**

> hinata so doesn't deserve this  
> (I can write fic that does not involve injuring Hinata, I swear. Probably.)  
> this is very much a work in progress! progress has been slow and i'm posting the beginning to try and give myself a kick to finish it, and also because i'm going to scream if i edit it one more time. thank you for reading, please talk to me if you enjoyed it.


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